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ferwUNITED STATES 

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BUILDERS OF 
GREATER BRITAIN 

Edited by H. F. WILSON, M.A. 

Barrister-at-Lam 
Late Felloiv of Trinity College, Cambridge 




DEDICATED BY SPECIAL 
PERMISSION TO HER 
MAJESTY THE QUEEN 



BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 



1. SIR WALTER RALEGH ; the British Dominion of 

the West. By Martin A. S. Hume. 

2. SIR THOMAS MAITLAND ; the Masters of the 

Mediterranean. By WALTER Frewen Lord. 

3. JOHN CABOT AND HIS SONS ; the Discovery of 

North America. By C. Raymond Beazley, M.A. 

4. LORD CLIVE; the Foundation of British Rule in 

India. By Sir A. J. Arbuthnot, K.C.S.I., CLE. 

5. EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD ; the Coloni- 

sation of South Australia and New Zealand. By 
R. Garnett, C.B., LL.D. 

6. RAJAH BROOKE ; the Englishman as Ruler of an 

Eastern State. By Sir Spenser St John , G. C. M. G. 

7. ADMIRAL PHILIP ; the Founding of New South 

Wales. By Louis Becke and Walter Jeffrey. 

8. SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES; England-in the Far 

East. By the Editor. 



Builders 

of 

Greater Britain 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 



y 






SIR WALTER RALEGH 



THE BRITISH DOMINION OF 
THE WEST 



-/j,^ 



MARTIN A. S. HUME 



AUTHOR OF 

THE COURTSHIPS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 

THE YEAR AFTER THE ARMADA 

EDITOR OF 

THE SPANISH STATE PAPERS OF ELIZABETH 



With Photogravure Frontispiece ana I^aps 




NEW YORK 
LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. 
91 AND 93 FIFTH AVENUE 
1898 



sn 



1009 



' TO HER WHO IS THE FIRST, AND MAY ALONE 
BE JUSTLY CALLED THE EMPRESS OF THE BRETANES.' 

Sir Walter Ralegh. 



PREFACE 

It is fitting that a series relating the lives of 
those who have reared the stately fabric of our 
Colonial Empire should begin with the story of 
the man who laid the foundation stone of it. 
The prescient genius of Sir Walter Ralegh 
first conceived the project of a Greater England 
across the seas, which should welcome the 
surplus population of th^ mother country to 
industry and plenty, and make of England the 
great mart for the products of its virgin soil. 
Others before him had dreamed of North- 
West passages to tap the trade of the teeming 
East; of gold, and gems, and sudden riches, to 
be grasped in far-off lands; but to Ralegh and 
his brother Sir Humphrey Gilbert belongs the 
more enduring honour of a nobler ideal — the 
planting in savage lands of English-speaking 
nations, ruled by English laws, enjoying English 



X PREFACE 

liberties, and united by links of kinship, and 
allegiance to the English crown. To them, 
more than to any other men, is it due that 
for all time to come the mighty continent 
of North America will share with England 
the cherished traditions and the virile speech 
of the race to which Ralegh belonged. To 
measure the greatness of the world's debt to 
him it will suffice to compare the sloth and 
poverty of the Southern part of the continent 
with the riches and activity of the North. 

Through all the stirring career of Ralegh, 
splendid favourite, successful soldier, statesman, 
poet, historian, philosopher, chemist, admiral, 
explorer and privateer, there ran, like a golden 
thread, shining brightly amid the dross that 
surrounded it, the inextinguishable resolve 
that the arrogant claim of the Philips to the 
exclusive possession of the western world, by 
virtue of a Pope's bull, should be resisted to 
the death; and that in order to make this 
resistance effective England must be supreme 
upon the sea. 

To this ruling principle he devoted his 
talents, his fortune and his life; he was the 
apostle and the martyr of a British Colonial 



PREFACE xi 

Empire; and this is the phase of his multi- 
tudinous activities in which the present short 
biography is intended to regard him. 

His commanding personality, and the strange 
vicissitudes of his fortune, from the first im- 
pressed the imagination of his countrymen; 
and his life has been written so often, and so 
thoroughly, that there is little fresh material 
to reward the research of more recent inquirers. 
In 1733, before the modern methods of his- 
torical investigation were possible, Oldys, with 
marvellous industry, collected every fact then 
obtainable respecting the life of his hero; much 
of his information being derived from sources 
not now easily accessible. In 1867 Mr 
Edwards, with equal thoroughness and erudi- 
tion, ransacked State - archives, official docu- 
ments and private muniment rooms, for such 
information as they contained on the subject. 
To Oldys's Life of Ralegh^ in the eleventh 
edition of the History of the World, and to 
Edwards's Life and Letters of Ralegh all sub- 
sequent biographers must perforce be in- 
debted, either for direct information or for 
the indication of original lines of research. 
To a lesser degree acknowledgment is due to 



xii PREFACE 

the works of Southey, Tytler, Sir Robert 
Schomburgk, Mr Stebbing, and especially to 
Dr S. R. Gardiner. 

But however well gleaned a field may be, 
there is always some stray grain still to be 
gathered; and another Life of Ralegh would 
hardly be justifiable, unless it contained some 
new contribution, however humble, to the 
knowledge of the subject; some fresh fact, 
however small, which should aid us in arriving 
at a just judgment upon the extraordinary, 
and sometimes problematical, circumstances of 
Ralegh's career. It has always been known 
that he was deliberately sacrificed to the 
importunities of the Spanish Ambassador, 
Gondomar, and many reasons have been 
suggested for the Spaniard's apparent ani- 
mosity. Dr Gardiner has to some extent 
lifted the veil, but the exact process and 
reasons of Ralegh's ruin by Gondomar have 
hitherto never been set forth in Gondomar's 
own words. It will be seen in the course of 
the present volume that it was no private 
revenge, it was with no desire to inflict 
punishment for the injury actually done on 
the last Guiana voyage, that led Gondomar to 



PREFACE xiii 

hound Ralegh to death, for he was practically 
condemned before he sailed, but to serve as 
an object lesson to England that all South 
America, at least, belonged to Spain. The 
reason why the weak King allowed Gondomar 
to hector him into judicially murdering his 
most distinguished subject is also clearly seen 
in the Spanish papers utilised for the present 
volume, to have been a pusillanimous desire to 
curry favour with Spain at any cost, and to sell 
Ralegh's head at as high a price as he could 
get for it. Gondomar's letters at Simancas 
and in the Palace Library at Madrid place this 
beyond doubt, and furnish also several side 
lights which help to elucidate other disputable 
points. They have likewise afforded me an 
opportunity of including in the present work 
two important letters from Ralegh to Lord 
Carew which are not contained in Mr 
Edwards's collection. 

MARTIN A. S. HUME. 

London, June 1H97. 



PAGE 



CONTENTS 

C H APTE R I 

Development of England's Maritime Power — Ancestry and 

Parentage of Ralegh, ..... i 

CHAPTER II 

Education and Early Years — First Projects for Colonising 

North America — Ralegh in Ireland, . . .14 

C H A P T E R 1 1 I 

Court Favour — Power and Fortune — Ralegh's' Communica- 
tions with the Spaniards, • . . .31 

CHAPTER IV 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert and the Colonisation of North 
America — Ralegh's Patent for the Planting of 
Virginia — The First Voyage thither — The Settlement 
AT Wokoken, . . . . . '53 

CHAPTER V 

The Settlement of Virginia — Tobacco — The Second Colony 
of Virginia — The Armada — Abandonment of the 
Virginian Settlers, . . . . •77 

XV 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VI 



PAGE 



Expedition TO Lisbon — Edward Spenser and the Faerie Queen 

— Ralegh as a Poet — ^Prose Writings, . . .98 



CHAPTER VII 

The Fight of the 'Revenge' — Ralegh's Privateering Ex- 
pedition — His Disgrace and Imprisonment — The Great 
Carrack — Ralegh as a Parliament Man, . . 117 

CHAPTER VIII 
Guiana — The First Expedition thither, . . . 140 

CHAPTER IX 

Frustrated Plans for the Settlement of Guiana — Spanish 
AcTiviTV IN THE Region — Captain Kemys's Voyage to 
Guiana, 1596 — Ralegh at the Sacking of Cadiz, . 169 

CHAPTER X 

The Expedition to the Azores under Essex — Disgrace of 
Essex — Ralegh's Action with Regard to Essex — Robert 
Cecil and Essex — Execution of Essext— Cecil and 
Ralegh, ....... 200 

CHAPTER XI 

The Succession to the Crown — The Infanta's Claim — Cecil, 
Henry Howard and James VI. — Ralegh marked out 
for Destruction — Death of the Queen — Disgrace of 
Ralegh — Arrest of Cobham and Ralegh — Accused of 
Treason, . . . . . . .230 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XII 



PAGE 



Ralegh's Trial at Winchester — Condemned to Death — His 

Prayers for Life — Reprieve — In the Tower, . . 265 



CHAPTER XIII 

Prayers for Pardon — Life in the Tower — The Sherborne 
Estate given to Carew — Prince Henry and Queen Anne 
— The ' History of the World' — New Plans for an Ex- 
pedition to Guiana — Release from the Tower, , 285 



CHAPTER XIV 

Diego Sarmiento De Acuna, Count de Gondomar — James's 
Promise to Him, on Hand, Faith and Word — 
Political Intrigues at Court — The French and Spanish 
Parties — Fitting out the Guiana Expedition — Sailing 
of the Expedition — Lanzarote, Canary and Gomera — 
Gondomar's Efforts against Ralegh, . ' . . 309 



CHAPTER XV 

Ralegh in Guiana — The River Expedition — Attack on San 
Thome — Death of Young Walter Ralegh — Failure and 
Return of the River Expedition — Gondomar claims the 
Fulfilment of the King's Promise — His Conversations 
with James, . . . . . .341 



CHAPTER XVI 

Gondomar and the King — Ralegh arrested on His arrival 

AT Plymouth-^His Letters to Carew, . . . 365 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XVII 

PAGE 

Ralegh's Journey to London — Stukeley — Attempt to 
Escape — Pretended Madness at Salisbury — Another 
Attempt to Escape — Betrayed by Stukeley — Proceed- 
ings AGAINST Ralegh — Attempts to entrap Him — Mock 
Trial at Westminster before the Council — Condemned 
TO Death — Last Interview with His Wife — On the 
Scaffold in Old Palace Yard, . . . 395 



LIST OF PLATES 

Portrait of Ralech in His Silver Armour, as 
Captain of the Guard, from Vertue's En- 
graving of a Contemporary Picture at 
Knole, ..... Frontispiece 

Sketch Map, showing the Position of the First 

English Settlements in North America, . Facing page 68 

Sketch Map of Guiana, illustrating -Ralegh's 

Two Voyages, . ' • . Facing page 326 



Sir Walter Ralegh 



CHAPTER I 

DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLANd's MARITIME POWER — 
ANCESTRY AND PARENTAGE OF RALEGH 

The most striking development of national thought 
in modern times has been the almost sudden quicken- 
ing of the imperial instincts of our race. There has 
been little excitement or shouting about it ; but the 
stream of conviction flov^^s swiftly, anjd with ever- 
growing potency, that the stately confederacy of 
nations we call the British Empire has a future 
before it even more splendid than its glowing past, 
and that all its citizens from the highest to the 
humblest may with reason hold their heads higher 
as they claim their share in the glory of theii 
common birthright. It was not always so. For 
many a long year we were so busy garnering the 
results of empire that we had almost lost sight of 
the means of retaining it. Over-prosperity, per- 
chance, had softened our muscles and thickened our 
brains, and we were content for a time to continue 

A 



2 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

to reap without sowing ; but the national awakening 
came in good season, and has braced us with the 
knowledge that the responsibilities of empire must 
be boldly faced if the pride of empire is to be 
preserved. 

We know now that Britain must be undisputed 
mistress of the seas, or meekly take a secondary 
place amongst the nations ; and there is no divided 
counsel, no wavering faith amongst us as to the 
fulfilment of our duty. Our insular position has 
intermittently brought the fact home to us ever 
since we were a united nation. Every hundred 
years or so, the conviction grows irresistibly great, 
and leads to effective action ; but only if the 
material elements of effective action have been 
evolved during the period of quiescence. If during 
that period wealth has not increased, science has not 
advanced, practical seamanship has not improved, or 
the physical development of the race has decayed, 
then no amount of popular enthusiasm, however dire 
the need, will conjure up a great navy as by the 
touch of a magician's wand. Great mavies, like great 
empires, are things of slow growth, depending for 
their very being upon previously existing material, 
and experienced knowledge. The great Portuguese 
African and American possessions sprang from the 
patiently accumulated elements, material and scientific, 
gathered at the instance of one enlightened prince 
from all quarters of the known v/orld, through a long 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 



3 



series of years. Seamen, navigators, cosmographers, 
astronomers, mathematicians and naval architects 
were all bribed to surrender their observation or 
their learning to the man vv^ho slowly built up a 
navy with the deliberate intention of founding a 
colonial empire for his country. But valuable as may 
have been the services rendered to Prince Henry's 
great plans by the wise men from afar, the ultimate 
success of his efforts, and of the subsequent triumphs 
of Columbus, depended mainly upon the existence 
of a school of fearless mariners who knew the sea 
and loved it, and the invention of the caravel, a 
form of craft, finer in line, handier in working, and 
swifter in pace than had ever been seen before. 

The great naval renaissance in England, during 
the reign of Elizabeth, sprang from exactly similar 
circumstances. 

During the lifetime of the gr^at Queen the sceptre 
of the seas passed from the hands of Spain into the 
powerful grasp which has held it ever since, and the 
dramatic completeness of the transference is rightly 
looked upon as one of the greatest marvels of that 
virile age. But wonderful as it seems when regarded 
from a distance, the causes are perfectly clear. The 
Queen personally did but little for it, except in so 
far that her national policy gave all Englishmen pride 
and faith in their country, and that she honoured 
success when it came. 

The Spanish Armada was not beaten by fighting 



4 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

but by not fighting. It was the fact that they could 
not get at the swift, handy craft of the EngHsh which 
turned the proud confidence of the Spaniards into 
dismay and panic. It was the superior build of the 
English ships, and the greater efficiency of the 
English seamen, which gave Spain her deathblow 
upon the seas ; and these circumstances arose from 
causes long anterior to the date of the armada 
itself. 

The foundation was laid by Henry VIII. He 
knew that Columbus had offered to discover the 
new world for England, and had been repulsed 
by the cautious Henry VII. He knew that the 
Cabots had failed to reach Cathay by the west, and 
that if he was to secure his share of the spoils of the 
Indies — for it was no question of a colonial empire 
for England yet — he must have larger and stronger 
ships. He was rich, clever, and ambitious, and set 
about improving his navy. The royal dockyards 
were refitted : navigators, shipbuilders and cannon 
founders were brought from the English west country, 
from Genoa and from Portugal ; and before he died 
he had the satisfaction of knowing that some of the 
finest ships that sailed the seas flew the flag of St 
George. An eye-witness of the attempt of Francis 
I. with his fleet of three hundred sail to attack the 
Isle of Wight in 1544 echoes the impartial foreign 
opinion of Henry's navy at the time. The English 
had only sixty ships to five times that number of 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 5 

Frenchmen. But amongst them were the Great 
Harry and Mary Rose, of nearly a thousand tons 
burden each, and there were many of those wonder- 
ful vessels ' such as had never been seen before which 
would work to windward with sails trimmed fore 
and aft ' ; invented by * Mr Fletcher of Rye ' : and 
the English were so little dismayed, that great Harry, 
the King, had himself come down to see the victory 
of his beloved fleet. The watchword on board was 
* God save the King,' and the answer was ' Long 
to reign over us.' ' You may believe me,' says the 
eye-witness, ' that one English ship was worth more 
than any five Frenchmen. It was truly a pleasant 
sight to see them anchored all in a line.' 

The French did not enjoy the sight so much as 
the onlooker, and decided to leave great Harry's 
ships alone. 

Then a period of quiescence" came, and England's 
navy was allowed to rot in harbour. Somerset and 
Northumberland were too rapacious, Mary too poor, 
to spend money on the fleet ; and in 1555 the 
Council was obliged to confess to King Philip 
that the English navy was unfit to put to sea. Even 
he saw that, at all costs, this must be remedied, 
and wrote to them that — ' England's chief defence 
depends upon its navy being always in good order 
to protect the kingdom against aggression. The 
ships must not only be fit for sea, but instantly 
available.' 



6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

When Elizabeth came to the throne, the merchant 
navy of England engaged in lawful commerce 
amounted to no more than 50,000 tons, and the 
royal navy in commission consisted only of seven 
cruisers, the largest 120 tons, and eight armed 
merchant brigs. The navy was a mere skeleton ; 
but the material was being formed in this period 
of depression from which England's future maritime 
greatness was to be built. The constant wars 
between Charles V. and the French kings had 
caused the English Channel to swarm with Spanish, 
Flemish and French privateers. Some bore letters 
of marque, some were mere pirates, but whatever 
they were, the sight of their easy gains and their 
adventurous lives fired the young English west 
country seamen, into whose ports they came. There 
were no sailors better than the Cornish and Devon- 
shire men. Their voyages were the longest and 
roughest ; for Falmouth, Dartmouth, Exmouth, Ply- 
mouth, Bideford and Bristol well nigh monopolised 
the over-sea traiHc, excepting that with France and 
Flanders. The abolition of the fasts of the Church 
had immensely decreased the demand for fish, for 
the consumption of anything but flesh was looked 
upon almost as a sign of Papistry, and it was an 
easy step for the English sailors to take up such 
a profitable trade as piracy in exchange for fishery. 
Vessels of all sorts passed into the business j younger 
sons of county families, and even sober m.erchants, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 7 

were attracted by the gains ; and soon anarchy- 
reigned on the seas. The race was with the swift, 
the battle with the strong ; and only the swiftest 
and the strongest survived. The stauncher, the 
handier, the quicker a vessel was, the greater was 
its chance of success, the bolder, and more hardy 
the men, the greater was their gain ; and out of 
this welter there arose such a race of seamen and 
shipbuilders as the world had never seen before. 
In the struggle for the survival of the fittest, 
Devonshire and Cornwall carried off the victory ; 
and when the supreme effort had to be made, 
which was to establish the sea power of England 
for good and for all, the stout hearts, the keen 
eyes, the matured experience of these scourges of 
the sea, were ready to fight their country's battle. 

The national policy of Elizabeth in adopting the 
reformed faith, and keeping Spain >it arm's length, 
her aid of the revolting Netherlands, and of the 
Huguenots in France, had naturally led to a recrud- 
escence of the persecution of English Protestants 
who fell into the hands of the Spaniards. The 
English sailors were of course those who suffered 
most, and their kinsmen at home at Plymouth, 
Falmouth, or Exmouth, gradually concentrated most 
of their attacks upon Spanish shipping. There were 
few country gentlemen on the Devonshire coast who 
had not a swift cutter or two at sea, on the look out 
for plunder or revenge ; and the talk at the firesides 



8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

of cottage and manor house alike, was all of daring 
and profitable adventure, and of the improvement of 
shipbuilding which made it possible. These must 
have been the topics which from his earliest child- 
hood filled the eager ears of young Walter Ralegh, 
His father, Walter Ralegh of Fardell, had been thrice 
married, and had a large family — four sons and two 
daughters, Walter being the second son by the third 
wife, Katharine Champernoun, widow of Otho 
Gilbert. 

Wonder has been expressed by Ralegh's biographers 
as to how, or when, he acquired his skill in maritime 
affairs, since he is not known to have had much 
practical experience in seamanship before he appeared 
as a' naval commander of accepted authority. But, 
apart from the marvellous versatility, which enabled 
him, as one of his contemporaries said, to do each 
thing as if he had been born especially for it, love 
of the sea, and all that belonged to it, must have been 
in his very blood. Champernouns, Gilberts, Gren- 
villes and Carews — men whose names ring across 
the ages like a trumpet-blast in the ears of English- 
men to this day — were all his kinsmen. His mother's 
cousin had been that Sir Peter Carew, 'the prettiest 
man, and the finest seaman in England,' who had 
commanded the Mary Rose^ and was drowned in her 
when she capsized off the Spit at the time of Francis 
I.'s attempt on the Isle of Wight. Sir Arthur Cham- 
pernoun, his mother's brother, was the Vice-Admiral 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 9 

of the west country, in command at Plymouth ; and 
his Champernoun cousins were, almost to a man, 
hardy sea-rovers, gentlemen of long lineage and 
noble blood, sailing their own ships, carrying their 
lives 'in their hands, now searching for the north- 
west passage to Cathay, now swooping down and 
plundering Spanish settlements on the American 
coast, or carrying thither cargoes of negroes from 
Guinea for legitimate trade, now standing off the 
Azores to await the coming of the homeward bound 
silver fleet with King Philip's doubloons on board. 
There was short shrift for them, they knew, if they 
were beaten, but they took care usually not to be 
beaten. The Queen repudiated them and called them 
hard names in public ; but she was quite willing that 
they should continue to weaken and terrify her enemy, 
and enrich herself, so long as no responsibility rested 
upon her. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was Ralegh's half- 
brother, many years older than himself, and to him, 
perhaps, rather than to his greater brother, should be 
given the credit for the first projecting of an England 
over the sea ; though in his case, as will be told, the 
project was never effected, as it was by Ralegh. 

Of the youth of few Englishmen of the first 
rank is so little known as that of Ralegh. Such 
stray hints as exist are mostly scattered by way of 
illustration in his own writings, and have been 
carefully pieced together by successive biographers. 
But, withal, the result is almost a complete blank 



10 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

until he emerges into the full clearness of day, 
already an acknowledged man of light and leading. 

The family of Ralegh was an ancient one, although 
before the date of Walter's birth it had become some- 
what impoverished. Walter Ralegh, the father, had 
ceased to live at his picturesque manor house of 
Fardell, on the borders of Dartmoor, two miles 
from Ivybridge, aud occupied a solitary thatched 
farmhouse called Hayes, standing — as it still does — 
in a dip on the edge of the downs, about two miles 
through the wood from Budleigh Salterton Bay. 

The house, of which the elder Walter Ralegh 
had only the remainder of a lease, cannot have 
changed very much since the boyhood of the hero. 
It can never have been a grand or imposing residence 
for so large a family as that of its owner. The 
country gentry had lived like toads under a harrow 
for the last three reigns, except those few who 
had succeeded in grabbing some of the Church 
lands ; and young Walter Ralegh's earliest days 
must have been far from opulent. All that is 
known of his father is that he wa& a pronounced 
Prostestant. In the Catholic ' Rising in the West,' 
his religious opinions nearly caused a premature 
end to his career. It was early in 1549 that, 
when he was on his way from Hayes to Exeter, he 
overtook an old woman telling her beads. Consider- 
ing that the whole country was in a religious ferment, 
and that the city of Exeter itself was surrounded 



SIR Vv^ALTER RALEGH n 

by the rebels, it argues more zeal than discretion 
on the part of Walter Ralegh that he took the 
old woman to task for illegally pursuing her Popish 
practices. She roused the congregation of the church 
of Clyst St Mary, crying that the gentleman had 
threatened to burn their houses over their heads, 
unless they would leave their beads, and give over 
holy bread and holy water. The infuriated rustics 
barricaded Clyst Bridge towards Exeter, and sent 
a body in pursuit of Ralegh. He took refuge from 
them in a wayside chapel, 'whence he was rescued 
by some mariners of Exmouth.' No sooner had 
he escaped from his assailants than he was met 
and captured by another band who carried him to 
St Sidwell's, where they imprisoned him in the 
church tower until the turmoil was over, and the 
'Rising in the West' had been Qrushed at the 
bloody battle of Clyst Heath": It is a fact which 
appears to have been generally overlooked, that 
amongst Lord Grey's force, which so ruthlessly put 
down the rebellion, was a considerable number of 
Spanish mercenaries. This may to some extent, 
perhaps, have deepened the feeling of hatred which 
the people of Devonshire afterwards showed towards 
the Spaniards. In any case, the marriage of Queen 
Mary to a Spanish prince was nowhere more un- 
popular than in the west country, although the 
Catholics there were in a majority. On the pre- 
mature outbreak and collapse of Wyatt's rising, the 



12 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Carews and other heads of revolt in Devonshire 
savi^ the game vi^as lost ; and Sir Peter Carew v^^as 
carried by Walter Ralegh's ship to France, vi^here, 
during the rest of Mary's reign, he was chief of 
the little band of English exiles v^^ho sullenly refused 
to be reconciled to their Spanish king. Foxe, in 
his Acts and Monu?nents^ tells a story of Katharine 
Champernoun, our Ralegh's mother, w^hich proves 
that she, too, as became her ancestry, was as strong 
a Protestant as her husband. In the time of 
the Marian persecution, a poor woman, afterwards 
martyred at the stake, was confined for her faith 
in Exeter Castle. Her name was Agnes Prest ; she 
was an illiterate, but steadfastly firm, woman, whose 
heroic adherence to her principles, in the face of 
great suffering, aroused the admiration of those who, 
like her, held to the reformed religion. To visit 
and comfort her was a brave deed, but Sir Walter 
Ralegh's mother did it. 'There resorted to her,' 
says Foxe, 'the wife of Walter Ralegh — a woman 
of noble wit and of good and godly opinions, who 
coming to the prison and talking with her, she 
said the Creed to the gentlewoman. When she 
came to the article " He ascended" there she stayed, 
and bade the gentlewoman to seek His blessed body 
in Heaven, not on earth ; and said that God 
dwelleth not in temples made with hands.' And, 
says Foxe, when Mrs Ralegh 'came home to her 
husband, she declared to him that in her life she 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 13 

never heard any woman of such simplicity to see, 
to talk so godly and so earnestly ; insomuch that 
if God were not with her she could not speak such 
things. I was not able to answer her — I, who 
can read, and she cannot.' 



CHAPTER II 

EDUCATION AND EARLY YEARS FIRST PROJECTS 

FOR COLONISING NORTH AMERICA RALEGH 

IN IRELAND 

These were the conditions and circumstances which 
surrounded the youth of Ralegh. We can only con- 
jecture in the light of his after life the influence they 
exerted on his character. The younger son of an im- 
poverished family of great descent, with all his kinsmen 
engaged more or less in the search for wealth and 
adventure on the sea, it is hardly wonderful that in 
after years the lustre of his genius should have been 
blurred by greed, arrogance and unscrupulousness. 
He was the child of his age, the same age that pro- 
duced Bacon ; when heroism and baseness went hand 
in hand ; when that sweet persuasive Elizabethan 
English, which Ralegh managed in so masterly a 
fashion, could clothe wicked deeds with splendid 
sophistry, and black treachery could be hidden under 
fervent appeals to the God of faith and righteousness. 
England had burst into a nev/ life during the early 
14 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 15 

years of Ralegh's boyhood. The conviction of grow- 
ing national potency was running riot through the 
veins of Englishmen. It was a period of youth : 
ignorance had burst its bonds, and a fresh era of en- 
lightenment and intellectual beauty was dazzling men's 
eyes. New worlds, enclosing untold wealth, unheard- 
of wonders, were being discovered by the bold and 
adventurous ; the limits of the universe, moral and 
material, were extending in the sight of men ; and 
Englishmen for the first time in their history realised 
the fact that to their country, to their race, belonged 
the coming heritage of universal greatness. But youth 
and ambition are ever arrogant and unscrupulous, and 
the Elizabethan age, with its noble ideals, its splendid 
promises, its great ambitions, its exuberance and its 
force, was a young era, and bore upon it the defects 
as well as the advantages of youth. Of its virtues, as 
well as its vices, Ralegh may be taken as the fairest 
prototype ; and any attempt to apologise for, or to 
minimise the more questionable side of his character, 
v/ould lead to the presentation of an imperfect picture 
of the man, and the period which he illustrated. 
Ralegh was, it is believed, born in 1552, and until his 
sixteenth year lived upon the Devonshire coast, either 
at the farmhouse at Hayes, or at a house in the city 
of Exeter which is sometimes incorrectly claimed for 
his birthplace. He was a great reader, and must have 
listened many times to home-coming sailors telling 
thrilling stories of their adventures on sea and land, of 



i6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

their sufferings at the hands of the Inquisition, of the 
wonders of far-off countries, and of the boundless 
wealth of gold and gems to be won in the Indies by the 
bold and fortunate. Even thus young, he must have 
been eager for action. We are told by Anthony a 
Wood that he entered as a Commoner at Oriel, Oxford, 
in 1568, and stayed there for three years, looked upon 
'as the ornament of the juniors ; and was worthily 
esteemed a proficient in oratory and philosophy.' 
This last may well have been true, but although his 
name appears as an undergraduate in the Oxford 
Register in 1572, he could not have remained at the 
University during the interval, and he certainly did 
not take a degree. 

The first war of religion was raging in France, 
and Cardinal Chatillon, Coligny's brother, was at 
Elizabeth's court praying for aid and countenance 
for the Huguenots. The Queen, as usual, was 
diplomatic, and would not openly pledge herself, 
but was quite willing that her subjects should help 
the cause of Protestantism on their own responsibility. 
Gawen Champernoun, Ralegh's first cousin, had 
married Gabrielle de Montgomeri, the daughter of 
that Anglo-French Huguenot leader who had had 
the mischance to kill the King, Henry IL, at the 
tourney to celebrate the peace of Chateau Cambresis. 
The connection, no doubt, deeply interested the 
family in the war, and young Ralegh must have 
left Oxford early in 1569, to join the forces of the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 17 

Huguenots under Conde ; for in the History of the 
World he incidentally states that he was present at 
the battle of Jarnac, where Conde was slain, on the 
13th March in that year. Whether he continued 
in France thenceforward until the autumn is un- 
certain, but his cousin, Gawen Champernoun, raised 
a body of one hundred western gentlemen later in 
the year to go to the aid of the Huguenots. They 
arrived two days after the disastrous battle of 
Montoncourt ; but according to Ralegh's own state- 
ment he was present at the battle and retreat itself, 
so that it is probable that he remained with the 
Huguenots in the interval. Thenceforward, for five 
years and a half, nothing is known of him, except 
that he was engaged in the civil war in France. 
The experience was doubtless a valuable one in every 
way. His remarks upon tactics in the History of the 
World and in his other writings prove that his 
marvellously receptive mind had assimilated and stored 
up the most profound lessons of military, as well as 
naval, strategy ; and whatever else the long and 
cruel campaigns in France may have taught him, he 
certainly emerged from them an accomplished soldier 
at the age of twenty-three. But to be a soldier alone 
did not satisfy his multitudinous mind. Even whilst 
in France he must have kept his name on the books 
of his university ; perhaps with the thought of some 
day returning and taking his degree. This he did 
not do, but in February 1575 entered as a member 

B 



i8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

of the Middle Temple, having previously obtained 
admission into Lyon's Inn. When on his trial for 
treason in 1603, he solemnly protested that he had 
never read a v^^ord of law in his life. This may have 
been true, although neither on this, or any other 
occasion, is it safe to take his word with absolute 
literalness ; for many young men entered the Inns 
for fashion's sake, as they did in after times, and he 
may well have become a member of Middle Temple 
in order to be near the Court, and to have an 
ostensible career. His brother, Humphrey Gilbert, 
had in 1572 commanded the English contingent in 
the service of the States at Flushing, and before 
Ter Goes, and Ralegh would appear to have served 
for a short time in the year 1577 or 1578 in the 
same service under Sir John Norris ; but it cannot 
have been much more than a flying visit, for during 
a portion of 1577 he is known to have been in London, 
leading — if Aubrey is to be believed— a somewhat 
free and riotous, life about the Court, apparently with 
a country retreat at Islington. Nothing is known of 
his means, but even already he must have moved in 
good society, to which, moreover, his relationship to 
the Champernouns and Gilbert would be a passport. 
For instance, in 1580, he had a quarrel with Sir 
Thomas Perrot, and both combatants were lodged in 
the Fleet for six days for brawling. He must also 
have managed at this time to fasten himself somehow 
upon the Earl of Leicester — probably he wore his 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 19 

colours, for hundreds of aspiring gentlemen nominally 
entered the household of the favourite, in order to 
obtain an introduction into the Court, and the support 
in need of a powerful protector. Thus far Ralegh's 
life is mostly dim and conjectural, but he soon 
emerges into the full light of day. 

In November 1572, Humphrey Gilbert had re- 
turned with his men secretly from Holland, and 
after seeing the Oueen, was told to go through 
the pretence of arriving publicly, but as if afraid to 
approach the Court until he had obtained her 
Majesty's pardon for helping the States without her 
leave. Her responsibility was thus saved, whilst her 
end was served. Gilbert was already a notable man 
on land and sea ; and it was fitting that some reward 
should be given to him. In March 1574, accord- 
ingly, he joined with his cousin Sir Richard Grenville, 
Sir George Peckham, Captain, Carlile, and others, in 
a petition to the Queen begging her ' To allow of 
an enterprise by them conceived ; and with the help 
of God under the protection of Her Majesty's most 
princely name and goodness, at their own charges 
and adventure, to be performed, for discovery of 
sundry rich and unknown lands, fatally, and it 
seemeth by God's providence, reserved for England, 
and for the honour of Her Majesty.' They assure 
the Queen that they have means easily to carry out 
their project, and that the profits will be large. Here 
we have the first practical suggestion for an English 



20 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

colonial empire. It is no longer an expedition for 
trade, or gold, or negroes, but a proposal to take 
possession of lands — 'by God's providence reserved 
for England.' The matter was referred to a com- 
mittee of the Council, vv^ho w^ere at length persuaded 
by Carlile that 'the northern part of America was 
inhabited by a savage people of a mild and tractable 
disposition, and of all other unfrequented places the 
only most fittest and most commodious for us to 
intermeddle withal.' 

Ten years before. Captain Ribaut of Dieppe had 
sailed with a commission from Coligny, the Huguenot 
leader, to take possession of Florida, whether in the 
name of England or France is uncertain, but the 
Spanish admiral, Menendez de Avila, had landed and 
hanged every man of them, fastening upon the breast 
of each a placard, setting forth that they had not been 
hanged because they were Frenchmen, but because they 
were pirates. The French had retorted later by land- 
ing in the same place and hanging all the Spaniards 
they found there ; ' not because they were Spaniards, 
but because they were murderers.' Thenceforward 
no further attempt had been made to settle any part 
of the continent north of the point of Florida, 
although the Biscay smacks were already finding 
their way to the rich fishing grounds off New- 
foundland ; and the theoretical claim of the Spaniards 
to the whole of the American continent had never 
been relaxed by them, nor admitted by the English. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 21 

In Gilbert's patent, therefore, which was granted in 
June 1578, he was authorised to discover and take 
possession, in the name of England, of ' any remote, 
barbarous and heathen lands not possessed by any 
christian prince or people.' 

With Humphrey Gilbert in this enterprise Ralegh 
was associated. By the 23rd September of the same 
year Gilbert had gathered in Dartmouth ready to sail, 
eleven vessels victualled for a year, 'and furnished 
with five hundred choice soldiers and sailors.' But 
misfortune dogged the enterprise from the first. The 
Spanish ambassador looked on with jealous eyes, and 
tried his hardest to obstruct the expedition, which 
was to be piloted by Simon Fernandez, one of the 
best of the King of Spain's pilots, who had been 
drawn away from his service by Walsingham ; and 
an Englishman in Spanish jDay accompanied the 
expedition, unknown to Gilbert, in order if possible 
to frustrate its objects. Just as the expedition was 
about to sail it was ordered to delay its departure 
until some question with regard to the capture of 
a Spanish ship was settled ; but it put to sea all the 
same, and Ralegh went with it on the Falcon as 
captain. Young Knollys, the son of the Queen's 
cousin Sir Francis, who owned Jsome of the ships, 
began to squabble with Gilbert before the contrary 
winds allowed them to sail, insulted him at table, 
flouted his knighthood, and otherwise misbehaved 
himself. Whilst the expedition was beating about 



2 2 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

in the Bay of Biscay, Knollys deserted with all the 
men he could prevail upon to follow him, and went 
his own way. Then Gilbert had an encounter 
with some Spaniards, in which he lost a ship ; and 
Ralegh was in great danger, many of his company 
being slain. Head winds at last drove them all 
back to Plymouth in November, where Ralegh, 
with the rest of Gilbert's faithful officers, laid a de- 
position before the Mayor against Knollys for his 
desertion. 

By the summer of 1579 Gilbert was again roving 
in the Channel, on the look-out for plunder, when 
news came that James Fitzmaurice, the Earl of 
Desmond's brother, had started with a Spanish- 
Papal expedition to land in Ireland, and Gilbert 
was ordered to capture him at sea, if possible. He 
failed ; but in revenge he swooped down upon the 
coast of Spain, in Galicia, sacked a hermitage, and 
committed other damage, and then returned to 
England. Whether Ralegh was with him on this 
raid is uncertain, but most probably he was, for 
we hear no more of him until the summer of the 
following year, 1580, when, for the first time, he 
received the Queen's Commission, as captain of one 
hundred foot soldiers, raised to fight the Desmond 
rebels in Munster. Gilbert had been President of 
Munster in 1569-70, during another attempt at a 
rising, which, by the means of the most merciless 
severity, he had suppressed in two months. His 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 23 

methods were a little too brutal, even for Elizabeth, 
and he was recalled ; but, as we shall see, his half- 
brother, Ralegh, fully approved of his way of deal- 
ing with the Irish. 

Ralegh's pay, as captain, was four shillings a day, 
* not leaving him food and raiment,' and the work 
was hard and little to his taste, for he was ambitious 
for a larger field. Upon the Irish he had no mercy, 
and made no pretence of winning by any other means 
than fear. The Viceroy, Lord Grey of Wilton, was 
as severe as his young captain ; but Ralegh's im- 
mediate superior, the Earl of Ormond, Deputy of 
Munster, an Irishman himself, was inclined to ques- 
tion the wisdom or justice of his methods. The 
first public act of Ralegh in Ireland was to join 
Sir Warham St Leger in trying and executing, at 
Cork, the unfortunate Sir James Fitzgerald, who 
was hanged, drawn and quartered 'in August 1580. 

Philip II. had allowed to be fitted out in the 
Biscay ports an expedition, nominally under the 
Papal flag and commanded by Italian officers, but 
consisting mainly of Spanish troops, to aid the 
Desmond insurgents in Munster. The expedition 
arrived off" the coast in the middle of September, 
and the men were landed at Smerwick, where they 
entrenched themselves in a fort they called Ore. 

Lord Grey had assumed the Viceroyalty in 
September, bringing with him as his secretary the 
poet Spenser, who subsequently became Ralegh's 



24 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

bosom friend. Grey arrived at Smerwick with a few 
ships under Winter, on the yth November. He landed 
his small force of about two hundred men, and some 
guns, and at once attacked the Papal force. After 
a few shots only, a parley was called. Grey feared 
it was a stratagem to delay matters until Desmond 
came up and attacked them in the rear, and refused 
to parley until the next day, when Alexander Bertoni, 
the second in command of the Spaniards, came out 
to crave quarter. He grovelled at Grey's feet and 
prayed for life. Grey asked him under whose orders 
he fought, and he replied, those of the Pope, where- 
upon the Viceroy answered that he would not treat 
them as soldiers, but simply as bandits. Grey de- 
manded immediate unconditional surrender, and in 
his apology he asserts that no conditions were granted; 
although the besieged and contemporary Irish records 
assert positively that a promise was given that the lives 
of the men should be spared. However that may be, 
as soon as the surrender was effected, and the weapons 
of the intruders secured, Grey ordered the two officers 
of the day. Captains Ralegh and Mackworth, to put 
the whole garrison to the sword. Six hundred poor 
wretches were slaughtered in cold blood, and only 
two or three superior officers were held to ransom. 
Camden says that the slaughter ' was against the mind 
of the Lord Deputy, who shed tears at the determina- 
tion ' ; although, if Grey, and not Ormond, be meant, 
it is difficult to absolve him from the responsibility. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 25 

His gifted secretary endeavours to justify the step in 
his View of the State of Ireland^ by pointing out the 
difficulty of keeping so large a number of prisoners 
in a hostile country ; and it must not be forgotten 
that the rebel Desmond was only three days' march 
away with a force greatly superior in numbers to that 
of the English. In any case, it will not be just to 
cast blame upon Ralegh for his share of the carnage, 
although, with his expressed opinions as to the only 
way to deal with Irish disaffection, there is every 
reason to suppose that he approved of it. The Queen 
was, or pretended to be, much displeased ; and Grey's 
many enemies at Court, especially Leicester, made 
the most of it, and eventually brought about his 
dismissal. 

During the winter of 1580 Ralegh was quartered 
at Cork. The Desmond rebellion still lingered, and 
all south-western Ireland outside of the English garri- 
sons was honeycombed with disaffection. Ralegh, at 
Cork, was in the midst of it, and apparently considered 
that Lord Grey was not striking at the roots. The 
young captain was indefatigable, and gave the rebels 
no rest, night or day. On one occasion he rode 
to Dublin to urge Lord Grey and his council to 
allow him to capture David, Lord Barry of Barry- 
court, whose loyalty was more than doubtful. He 
was given a free hand ; but spies were everywhere, 
and Barry was fully informed of Ralegh's project. 
To anticipate the action of the English, he burnt 



26 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

his own castle and wasted his lands, and one of 
Desmond's vassals, Fitz-Edmond, lay in ambush for 
Captain Ralegh at a ford he had to cross between 
Youghal and Cork. Ralegh's escort was a small 
one, only six men, most of whom had straggled 
when the ford was reached. Ralegh suddenly found 
himself face to face in a dangerous place with a 
relatively large force of horse and foot. Almost 
alone, he literally cut his way through to the 
opposite bank of the river, accompanied by another 
young Devonian named Moyle. In crossing the 
river the latter twice foundered in deep water, 
and twice his life was rescued by Ralegh at the 
risk of his own. Then Ralegh, standing with a 
pistol in one hand and his iron-shod quarter-staff in 
the other, v^ithstood the rebel force until his stragg- 
ling escort had crossed the stream. Shortly after- 
wards, Fitz-Edmond, with other rebels, was present 
at a parley with Ormond and Ralegh, and ventured 
to speak of his own bravery. Ralegh told him 
flatly that he was a coward, for he himself alone 
had withstood him and twenty men. Ormond, 
jealous, apparently, of the imputation upon Irish 
valour, challenged Fitz-Edmond, Sir John Desmond, 
and any four others to fight him, Ormond, Ralegh, 
and four men of their choosing, but the rebels, per- 
haps wisely, shirked the encounter, and nothing came 
of it. On the retirement of Ormond from the 
presidency of Munster in the spring of 1581, the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 27 

government of the province was entrusted jointly to 
Captain Ralegh, Sir William Morgan and Captain 
Piers. All the summer Ralegh and his little force of 
ninety men lay at Lismore and in the neighbourhood, 
scourging the rebels ceaselessly, until in the autumn 
he was able safely to return to his old quarters at 
Cork. Desperate as was Ralegh's energy in his 
service, how little it was to his taste is seen by a 
letter he w^rote at the time to the Earl of Leicester. 
It has already been remarked that he must have 
attached himself in some way to Leicester's party 
during his stay in London. On the 25th August 
158 1, he wrote to him : — ' I may not forgett continu- 
ally to put your Honour in mind of my affection 
unto your Lordshipe, havinge to the worlde bothe 
professed and protested the same. Your Honour 
having no use of such poore followers, hathe utterly 
forgotten mee. Notwithstandinge, if your Lordshipe 
shall please to thinke me your's, as I am, I wilbe 
found redy, and dare do as miche in your service as 
any man you may commande ; and do neither so 
miche dispaire of my self, but that I may be som- 
way able to perform as miche. I have spent some 
time here under the Deputy, in such poore place and 
charge as, were it not for that I knew him to be one 
of yours, I would disdayn it, as miche as to keap 
sheep. I will not troble your Honour with the 
bussiness of this lost lande, for that Sir Warram Sent- 
leger can best of any man deliver unto your Lordshipe 



28 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

the good, the badd, the mischiefs, the means to 
amend, and all in all of this common-wealthe or 
rather common-woe.' 

Sir Warham St Leger had now been appointed 
Deputy of Munster, and with him Ralegh apparently 
agreed better than with Ormond or Grey. In 
February 1581, before Ormond retired, Ralegh had 
not scrupled to write to Walsingham an impeachment 
of his general conduct towards his rebel countrymen. 
Ormond was far too lenient, he thought, and his 
kinship with many of the disaffected Irish was a 
danger. * Considering that this man having now been 
Lord Generall of Munstre about two yeares, theire ar 
at this instant a thowsand traytors more than were the 
first day. Would God the service of Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert might be rightly looked into, who, with the 
third part of the garrison now in Ireland, ended a 
rebellion not miche inferior to this in three monethes.' 

Ralegh, indeed, all through his career, seems to 
have been a difficult man to get on with. Like 
many men of vast ambitions, great vitality, and 
conscious genius, he was fractious until stricken with 
adversity, and even then his finer qualities did not 
appear until all seemed lost. His service in Ireland gave 
several instances of his daring. During his march 
from Lismore to Cork he learnt that Lord Barry 
was at Clove, with a body of several hundred rebels 
whom he determined to attack with his own eighty- 
eight men. He charged and put them to flight. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 29 

Thinking he had done with them, he went on his 
way with only six horsemen, the rest lagging behind, 
and soon overtook another band of Irishmen greatly 
superior in numbers to his own. They faced him 
and fought desperately, five out of Ralegh's six 
horses being killed. Ralegh being dismounted, was 
being overborne by numbers, when one of his men, a 
Yorkshireman named Nicholas Wright, coped with 
six of his assailants, whilst an Irishman called Patrick 
Fagan dealt with some more. Whilst still fighting, 
Ralegh noticed an Irish gentleman, Fitz-Richards, 
hardly pressed, and told the sturdy Wright to stand by 
him no longer, ' but to charge above hand and save 
the gentleman,' which he did. 

His surprise and capture of Lord Roche in his own 
castle, surrounded by disaffection, was also an ex- 
traordinary feat. Roche seems to have been merely 
suspected, with little reason as_ it turned out, but 
Ralegh liked to strike terror, and although Fitz- 
Edmond, with eight hundred men, was, he knew, 
lying in ambush for him, he gave him the slip, made 
a night march with marvellous celerity, obtained 
entrance to the castle of Roche by a stratagem, and 
safely carried the nobleman and all his family to 
Cork, through a country swarming with rebels. 

These and similar services were by no means kept 
in the background. On the contrary, Ralegh was 
very persevering in urging them upon his superiors, 
and claiming rewards and consideration for them. In 



30 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

writing on one occasion to the Viceroy, Lord Grey 
(ist May 1581), partly with this object, he made a 
suggestion, a few words only, upon which, curiously 
enough, all his future greatness was to depend. ' If 
it please your Honour,' he wrote, ' to give commission, 
there may bee another hundred soldier layd uppon the 
cuntre heire aboute. I hope it willbe a most honor- 
able matter for your Lordshipe, most acceptable to Her 
Majestic, and profitable to the cuntre ; and the right 
meane to banish all idle and fruitles galliglas and 
kerne, the ministers of all miseryes.' 

It is not quite clear what the proposal was, but 
from a marginal note of Lord Grey's it was evidently 
a plan to force the Irish to find more men and money 
for the English service. Whatever it was, Lord Grey 
resented it and snubbed his aspiring captain for a time. 
By the end of 1581 the rebellion in Munster had been 
got under. John of Desmond had been hanged by 
the heels at Cork, and his head sent to London ; his 
brother, the earl, was a hunted fugitive, and the 
terrified kerns had been crushed into sullen resignation 
for twenty years to come. Under the circumstances 
it was possible to reduce the English garrisons, and 
Ralegh's company was disbanded, the captain himself 
being sent to London with dispatches in December, 
with j^20 for the expenses of his journey. 



CHAPTER III 

COURT FAVOUR POWER AND FORTUNE RALEGh's 

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE SPANIARDS 

Ralegh was now about to enter upon his splendid 
career as a courtier and statesman. He was thirty- 
years of age, six feet high, his hair and beard dark, 
bushy, and naturally curling, his eyes steel grey, and 
very bright, though, to judge from his portraits, rather 
too close together. ' He had,' says Naunton, ' a good 
presence in a handsome and well compacted person, a 
strong natural wit, and a better judgment ; with a 
bold and plausible tongue, whereby he could set out 
his parts to the best advantage.' Probably his per- 
suasive eloquence was one of his greatest gifts, and his 
personal fascination must have been marvellous ; for 
when he chose, which in his arrogance he rarely did, 
he could bring even those who hated him to his side. 
He took no care, however, to be popular, for he 
always scorned and contemned the people, and on the 
death of Elizabeth he was probably the best hated 
man in England. A good instance of this occurs in a 

31 



32 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

letter from Dudley Carleton to Chamberlain, giving 
an account of the condemnation of Ralegh to death 
for treason at Winchester in 1603. He says that the 
two men who first took the news to the King were 
Roger Ashton and a Scotsman, ' whereof one affirmed 
that never man spake so well in times past, nor would 
do in the world to come; and the other said that, 
whereas, when he first saw him he was so led with 
the common hatred that he would have gone a 
hundred miles to have seen him hanged, he would, 
ere he parted, have gone a thousand to have saved his 
life. In one word, never was a man so hated and so 
popular in so short a time.' What was true of the 
matured genius in the moment of his adversity was 
equally true of the almost unknown young captain 
who came with dispatches from Ireland twenty years 
before. His attraction was irresistible. The par- 
ticular plan which Ralegh had submitted to Lord 
Grey for increasing the English forces in Munster 
without expense to the Queen has been lost ; but, 
whatever it was, Captain Ralegh lost no time in 
submitting it to the Queen and Council. It appears 
in the ordinary course to have been sent to Lord Grey 
for his opinion, and the irate Viceroy lost no time in 
making clear that he was offended at Ralegh's pre- 
sumption. In his letter to Lord Burghley, dated 
January 1582, he says, * Having lately received 
advertisement of a plott delivered by Captain Rawlcy 
unto her Majestie, for the lessening of her charges 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 33 

here in the province of Mounster, and disposing of the 
garrisons according to the same ; the matter at first, 
indeed, offering a very plausible show of thrifte and 
commoditie, which might easily occasion Her Majestic 
to thincke that I have not so carefully as behoved 
looked into the state of the cause and the search of 
Her Majestie's profitt.' He then goes on to say that 
he and his council having considered Captain Rawley's 
plan, have decided that it is inconvenient and im- 
possible. ' I doubt not but you will soone discerne a 
difference betweene the judgments of those who, with 
grounded experience and approved reason, look into 
the condition of things, and those who upon no 
grownd but seeming fancies, and affecting credit with 
profit, frame " plotts " upon impossibilities for others 
to execute.' 

To Walsingham at the same time the Viceroy 
wrote bitterly complaining of the way he was being 
traduced and misrepresented at Court. Leicester was 
a strenuous enemy of Grey, and doubtless was not 
sorry to bring forward the brilliant handsome captain, 
just arrived from Ireland, who might be made his 
instrument for further discrediting the Viceroy. In 
any case, although no record exists of it in the Council 
book, and Naunton's assertion that Ralegh and Grey 
personally met at the Council table is incorrect, it is 
certain that Ralegh on this occasion first made his 
favourable impression on the Queen. On the recep- 
tion of Grey's report there would naturally be some 

c 



34 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

sort of consultation, at which Ralegh would be 
present, and it is possible that Naunton may have 
referred to such an occasion when he wrote, ' Among 
the second causes of Ralegh's growth . . . that 
variance between him and Lord Grey in his descent 
upon Ireland was a principal ; for it drew them both 
over to the Council table . . . where he had much 
the better in telling of his tale ; and so much that the 
Queen and the Lords took no small mark of the man 
and his parts.' Afterwards, he adds that, ' Ralegh 
had gotten the Queen's ear in a trice ; and she 
began to be taken with his elocution, and loved to 
hear his reasons to her demands ; and the truth is she 
took him for a kind of oracle, which nettled them 
all.' Doubtless this is true in the main, as Naunton 
of course knew Ralegh well ; but it is loosely told, 
and in detail open to question. 

The pretty story about the gallant captain spread- 
ing his rich cloak over a plashy place for the Queen 
to step upon, as told by old Fuller, has no other 
authority than his upon which to rest, but there is 
nothing inherently improbable in it.' It is quite in 
keeping with the inflated gallantry of Elizabeth's 
Court, and with Ralegh's character. He was deter- 
mined to ' get on.' His ambition we know was 
boundless ; he could flatter and crawl as abjectly as 
the basest ; he could hector as insolently as the 
highest. He had passed six years amongst French 
gentlemen, bred in the preposterous fopperies of the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 35 

Court which Brantome describes so well. The trick 
of spreading the cloak was always a favourite one 
amongst Spanish gallants, and, of course, was well 
known in France, although apparently it never was 
acclimatised in England. It was just the thing to 
confirm the vain Queen in the good impression which 
Ralegh's eloquence and ability had already produced 
upon her, and even on Fuller's authority, we may 
accept the story for its verisimilitude. 

He had not been in England many weeks before 
the first sign of royal favour reached him. At the 
end of March 1582, only three months after his 
arrival in London, he was appointed to the captaincy 
of a company in Ireland, of which the captain 
(Appesley) had just died ; but he was excused from 
commanding in person, and was empowered to ap- 
point a deputy. Shortly before this, indeed, he 
had been awarded ;^ioo on account of his Irish 
services, to be paid out of the funds destined for 
the war. 

This was gall and wormwood to Lord Grey, who 
wrote a vigorous protest to Walsingham in April. 
' As for Captain Rawley's assignment to the charge 
of Appeslei's band, which in your letter of the 2nd 
April you write to be signified to me by a letter 
from Her Majestie. I have no letter which specifieth 
any such thing to me, and for myne own part, I must 
bee plain : I nether like his carriage nor his company, 
and therefore other than by direction and command- 



36 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

ment, and what his right can require, he is not to 
expect at my hands,' 

But Ralegh's foot was well in the stirrup now, and 
Grey's ire was powerless to hurt him. On the 
contrary, it is evident from a paper in the Record 
Office in Burghley's hand, tnat he was in October 
of the same year consulted as to the government of 
Ireland, and the suppression of the rebellion, and his 
recommendations were submitted to the Queen. 

But by this time the Queen's languishing courtiers, 
who kept up the eternal pretence of being in love 
with her, had taken fright at the new-comer's good 
fortune. 

For the last few years she had been playing fast and 
loose with the young Duke of Anjou, and flirting 
desperately with his egregious representative Jean de 
Simier, but she was now rid of them. Leicester's 
marriage, too, had been divulged to her by Simier 
a year before, and his position towards her in future 
was changed ; but still her faithful ' bell wether,' 
Hatton, kept the old game going, and began to get 
jealous of Ralegh. Sir Thomas Heneage, another old 
flame of the Oueen's, who had now dropped out of 
the active list of lovers, and was Vice-Chamberlain, 
sided with Hatton ; and at the request of the latter 
handed to the Queen one morning in October (1582) 
a letter from his friend, just as ' Her Highness was 
ready to ride abroad in the great park to kill a doe.' 
With the letter v/ere sent three tokens — a book, a 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 37 

bucket and a bodkin — presumably meaning that Hatton 
swore that if she did not leave Ralegh (whx)se pet 
name was 'water') he would kill himself. The 
Oueen took the letter and tokens, and smilingly said, 
' There never v/as such another.' She seems to have 
been too excited and pleased to fix the bodkin in her 
hair, as she tried to do, and gave it and the letter back 
to Heneage, until she could bring her horse to a stand 
still. ' She read it,' says Heneage, ' with blushing 
cheeks, and uttered many speeches (which I refer till I 
see you), most of them tending to the discovery of a 
doubtful mind, whether she should be angry or well 
pleased.' She decided to be pleased, and told Heneage 
to answer, ' that she liked your preamble so ill, as she 
had little list to look upon the bucket or the book. 
If Princes were like gods, as they should be, they 
v/ould suffer no element so to abound as to breed 
confusion. And that Pecora Campi (Hatton) was so 
dear unto her, that she had bounded her banks so 
sure, as no water nor floods should ever overthrow 
them. And for better assurance unto you that you 
shall not fear drowning, she hath sent you- a bird that, 
together with the rainbow, brought the good tidings 
that there should be no more destruction by water. 
. . . You should remember she was a shepherd, and 
then you might think how dear her sheep was unto her. 
. . . To conclude, water hath been more welcome 
than were fit for so cold a season.' Three years later, 
when Ralegh was in the height of his favour, the 



38 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Queen again assured Hatton that Ralegh should not 
supplant him. She told Heneage at Croydon that she 
felt Hatton's absence from her side as much as he 
did, * and marvelled why you came not.' Heneage let 
her know that there was no place for him to stay in, 
as his lodging had been occupied." The Queen flew 
into a rage at this, and would not believe that anyone 
should dare to occupy Hatton's rooms. She sent to 
make inquiries, and found that Sir Walter Ralegh 
was lodged in them. ' Whereupon she grew more 
angry with the Lord Chamberlain than I wished she 
had been, and used bitterness of speech against R, 
telling me before him that she had rather see him 
hanged than equal him with you, or that the world 
should think she did so.' 

Even in that age of display no man perhaps was 
so gorgeous in his attire as Ralegh. Jewels, big 
pearls especially, were beloved by him, and wonderful 
stories were current in the Court as to the fabulous 
value of the adornments he wore ; one writer assert- 
ing that the gems upon his shoes alone were worth 
6600 gold pieces. No courtier was more gallant 
at tourney or masque than he, no poet readier 
to turn a stanza in praise of his mistress, or to 
devise a far-fetched compliment ; but, unlike the 
other butterflies that fluttered round the Queen, he 
was far from confining his attention to these trifles. 
From the first the Queen had consulted him and 
employed him in affairs of State ; great plans for 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 39 

the founding of an England over the sea were already 
working in his brain. He could dangle at Court and 
bandy compliments as well as the most empty-headed 
fine gentlemen ; but he gave up only five hours of 
the twenty-four to sleep, and spent every hour he 
could snatch in study. His reading must have been 
omnivorous, for his breadth of view, his depth of 
knowledge, and his profundity of thought — far in 
advance of his contemporaries — prove him to have 
been perhaps the most universally capable Englishman 
that ever lived — a fit contemporary of Shakspeare 
and Bacon. 

We have seen that from his first appearance before 
Elizabeth in January 1582, when he defended his Irish 
plans, honours and emoluments were showered upon 
him. In the beginning of the following month of 
February, the Queen had managed, by dint of bribes, 
caresses and promises, to inducethe Duke of Anjou to 
leave England and embark for Flushing, where he was 
to receive the sovereignty of the revolted Flemish States. 
William the Silent awaited him at the landing-place, 
and some of the principal courtiers of Elizabeth's Court 
accompanied the new sovereign to his dominions. He 
entered the town in great pomp, with William on one 
side of him and Leicester on the other, followed by 
Hunsdon, Willoughby, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir John 
Norris, Ralegh, and many others. When he was 
crowned in Antwerp a few days afterwards, Leicester 
and the Englishmen were present. Leicester had 



40 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

tried his hardest through Hatton to avoid the 
journey, for he feared that the new sovereign 
might detain him against his w^ill, whilst he pursued 
his love-making by letter with the Queen, undis- 
turbed by Leicester's presence near her. So im- 
mediately the investure was over, whilst the rest of 
the company was at dinner, Leicester escaped and 
sailed for England, leaving most of his train behind 
him. It suited the Queen for the moment to dis- 
claim the investure of Alen^on ; and Leicester and 
those with him were rated as .traitors and rogues 
for having been present at the ceremony. William 
the Silent understood the position ; he knew that 
Anjou was a helpless puppet in the Queen's hands j 
and when Ralegh took leave of him he entrusted 
him with dispatches for Elizabeth and her Council, 
and bade him deliver to her this message — ^ Sub 
umbra alarum tuarum protegimur.'' 

In the following year the Queen granted Ralegh 
the use of Durham House in the Strand, conveniently 
near to Whitehall and one of the largest of the river- 
side palaces, which for many years had been used as a 
royal guest-house. Here he lived in splendour until 
the Queen's death, having, as he subsequently said, a 
retinue of forty persons and as many horses always 
maintained there. 'I well remember,' says Aubrey, 
'his study, which was on a little turret that looked 
into and over the Thames, and had a prospect 
which is as pleasant as any in the world.' All this 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 41 

magnificence, hov/ever, needed large revenues to 
keep it up, and the Oueen was not fond of reward- 
ing her favourites with direct gifts of money. She 
had other ways of enriching them, and these she 
adopted in Ralegh's case. In April 1583, the 
Oueen induced All Souls College, Oxford, to grant 
him two beneficial leases of some property. In the 
following month he received a patent to license 
vintners, by which he was entitled to a half of all 
fines inflicted and to exact a fee of ^i per annum 
from every wine dealer in England. There was no 
pretence at supervision on his part, for he leased 
his patent to a certain Richard Browne for seven 
years at ;^8oo a year. Browne was industrious in 
increasing the number of taverns, and was making a 
very good thing of it, when Ralegh claimed a larger 
share of the profits. This Browne- refused, and 
Ralegh being unable to induce him' to surrender his 
lease, he went to the length of getting his own 
patent revoked, and regranted for thirty-one years. 
He subsequently drew large revenues from it — he 
himself stated ^^2000 a year — but it involved him 
in constant trouble and litigation, for the patent was 
an oppressive and unpopular one, and in the case of 
the University towns interfered with old and powerful 
vested interests. In March 1584, a license was given 
to him to export a certain number of woollen cloths, 
and in subsequent years this privilege was regranted 
and extended. This again brought him into collision 



42 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

with merchants and shippers, who innocently, or 
otherwise, infringed his patents. It will be seen, 
therefore, that even in the case of a man less 
rapacious and extravagant than Ralegh, there was 
sufficient reason for his unpopularity, on account of 
these patents alone. 

In the following year, 1586, the confiscated lands 
of the defeated Desmonds in Munster were to be 
scrambled for, and Ralegh naturally came in for the 
lion's share, although the actual profit to him turned 
out in the end to be small. 

The province had been harried by fire and sword to 
such an extent, and most of the land itself was so poor, 
that Hooker speaks of it thus at the time : — ' The curse 
of God was so great, and the land so barren, both of man 
and beast, that whosoever did travel from one end of 
Munster ... to the other, about six score miles, he 
should not meet man, woman or child, saving in the 
towns.' The problem therefore was to repeople this 
wilderness, and the land — 600,000 acres of it — was 
partitioned out amongst gentlemen who undertook 
to plant thereon a given number of well-afFected 
Englishmen. It was enacted that no person was 
to have more than 12,000 acres, upon which eighty- 
six families were to be settled, but Ralegh and two 
nominal associates got three seigniories and a half, of 
12,000 acres each, of fine fertile well-wooded land, 
stretching on each side of the Blackwater from Youghal. 
He also obtained a grant of Lismore Castle from the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 43 

Bishop of Lismore at a nominal rent, and possessed 
a manor house at Youghal. Ralegh did his best 
with his vast estate, settling it with Cornish and 
Devonshire families, and introducing in after years 
many improvements in tillage and management, as 
well as first planting potatoes, but he met with 
constant obstruction and trouble, causing him end- 
less litigation with regard to the estate. His occupa- 
tions were many, and he was necessarily, for the 
most part, absent from Ireland. The prohibition 
of exportation of timber, pipe-staves, and the like, 
hit him especially hard ; for he had counted much 
upon the export of casks from Ireland to Spain. 
He had many a hard battle before he could get the 
prohibition even partially raised. He was in constant 
hot water, too, with his tenants, and with the English 
Viceroy, Fitzwilliam, in after years ; he was swindled 
by his partners and representatives, -and his broad 
acres in Ireland brought him little but bitterness and 
disappointment. 

Even a more important gift was that of the Lord 
Wardenship of the Stannaries, which he received on 
the death of the Earl of Bedford in 1585. The 
Stannaries Parliament of Devon and Cornish miners 
was held on a secluded tor overlooking Dartmoor, 
and here the brilliant courtier, the accomplished 
poet, the experienced soldier, the subtle statesman, 
became the Devonshire squire j giving laws to his 
own people, and settling the disputes of the rough 



44 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

miners, in their own broad, soft accent, which even 
at Court he always retained to the day of his death. 
To this place of dignity was shortly afterwards added 
that of Vice-Admiral of the West, and, finally, in 
1587, he became Captain of the Queen's Guard in 
succession to the forlorn ' bell wether,' Lord Chancellor 
Hatton. The post was a valuable one, although no 
salary was attached to it, except the uniform of *six 
yards of tawney medley at 13s. 4d. a yard, with a fur 
of black budge, rated at ;^I0,' but it kept him near 
the Queen's person, and gave him opportunities for 
asking favours for which he probably exacted large 
payments from the suitors whose causes he pleaded ; 
as did, indeed, all persons in similar position at the 
time. 

A still greater instance of the royal favour even than 
this came to Ralegh about the same time as the 
captaincy of the guard, under circumstances which, 
to say the least, lay him open to the gravest suspicion. 

In May 1586, the priest Ballard had been sent by 
the English Catholics to the Spanish ambassador in 
Paris, Mendoza, with a proposal for ttie murder of the 
Queen, and a Catholic rising in England with Spanish 
help. The answer was vaguely sympathetic, but it was 
sufficient for the purpose. In August of the same year 
Gifford went to Paris with the full plan. They felt, 
he said, that war with Spain was inevitable, and that 
Elizabeth's reign was drawing to a close, and in order 
to avert ruin they had decided to precipitate matters. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 45 

For this purpose they had attracted to their side a 
large number of supporters who were not Catholics, 
but who were anxious for Mary Stuart to succeed. He 
gave Mendoza a list of a great number of noblemen 
and gentlemen who would welcome a Spanish force, 
and raise a revolt the moment the Queen was 
despatched ; and said that six of the Queen's servants, 
having constant access to her person, had sworn to 
commit the deed of murder. This was a repetition or 
Ballard's message in May, and when it came in its 
more authorative form it was cautiously welcomed by 
Philip. It is useless to remind the reader that the main 
threads of the conspiracy were all in Walsingham's 
hands from the first, and that before Philip's reply 
could reach them Babington and his principal associates 
were captured and in jail. When Mendoza wrote to 
the King, loth September, that the conspiracy had 
been discovered, he says that out of the six men who 
had sworn to kill the Queen, and whose names had 
never previously been mentioned, 'only two have 
escaped, namely, the favourite Ralegh, and the brother 
of Lord Windsor.' At the first sight it appears 
absolutely impossible that Ralegh can have been 
associated with the conspirators to kill the Queen, 
unless it were as a spy ; but there are some curious un- 
explained circumstances in connection with the matter, 
which — like the allegation itself — have not hitherto 
been noticed. Morgan, the Queen of Scotland's 
agent in Paris, wrote to her in April 1585, saying that 



4.6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

he had made friends with several of the English gentle- 
men who had come over to Paris with Lord Derby, and 
had since continued in secret communication with 
them, whereby he hoped to have drawn some secret 
service for her Majesty (Mary Stuart) ; but in the 
midst of his negotiations he had been lodged in the 
Bastile, and his purpose had been disappointed. 
' Amongst those that I mean was one named William 
Langharne, secretary to Master Rawley the Quene's 
dere minion who daylye groweth in creditt. The 
said secretary is a good Catholic, and his master and 
Her Majestie's new hoste Poulett are friends, which 
moved me the more willingly to take hold of his pro- 
ferred amity.' It is true that this mysterious action of 
Ralegh's secretary does not in any way compromise 
his master ; but it is certain that the latter was play- 
ing a double game at the time, whatever his object 
may have been. In 1586, a ship belonging to him 
had captured at sea a Portuguese vessel, on board of 
which was Don Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, King 
Philip's governor of the Spanish settlements in 
Patagonia. He was an important person, and a 
famous navigator, and in the ordinary course would 
have been held to heavy ransom. The English 
merchants just then were crying out about the ruin 
brought to their commerce by the state of war with 
Spain, and it suited Elizabeth to sound Philip about 
the conclusion of a peaceable arrangement. It was 
therefore settled that Sarmiento should be released by 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 47 

Ralegh without ransom, and proceed to Spain with 
offers for peace. He had more than one interview 
with the Queen, Cecil, and Ralegh, who entrusted 
him with pacific messages for the King. Sarmiento 
told Mendoza that he had had many private conversa- 
tions with Ralegh ; 'and signified to him how wise it 
would be for him to offer his services to Your Majesty, 
as the Queen's favour to him could not last long. He 
said that if he (Ralegh) would attend sincerely to Your 
Majesty's interests in England, apart from the direct 
reward he would receive, Your Majesty's support when 
occasion arose might prevent him from falling. Ralegh 
accepted the advice, and asked Sarmiento to inform Your 
Majesty of his willingness, if Your Majesty would 
accept his services, to oppose Don Antonio's attempts, 
and to prevent the sailing of expeditions from England. 
He would, moreover, send a large ship of his own 
heavily armed to Lisbon, and seTl it fo'r Your Majesty's 
service for the sum of 5000 crowns. In order that he 
might learn whether Your Majesty would accept his 
services, he gave Sarmiento a countersign, and wrote to 
a nephew of his here (in Paris) learning the language, 
telling him, that the moment I gave him a letter 
from Sarmiento he was to start with it to England.' 
Sarmiento was captured by Huguenots on his way 
through the south of France, and held as a prisoner. 
Both Elizabeth and Philip were indignant, and made 
great efforts to procure his release. As soon as 
Mendoza learned of Sarmiento's capture, he sent word 



48 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

to Ralegh's nephew, who volunteered to start for 
England at once and inform his uncle. The latter 
immediately dispatched two of his followers to France 
to beg Henry of Navarre, in the name of the Queen, 
to release Sarmiento. They were first to address 
themselves to Mendoza, who lent them lOO crowns 
for their expenses on Ralegh's account. On the 
i8th February 1587, Mendoza writes to Philip: — 'I 
am assured that he (Ralegh) is very cold about these 
naval preparations (/.^., in England), and is trying 
secretly to dissuade the Queen from them. He is 
much more desirous of sending to Spain his own two 
ships for sale, than to use them for robbery. To con- 
firm him in his good tendency I came to the help of 
the two gentlemen he sent hither, who asked me for 
some money. . . . This will give him hopes that 
Your Majesty will accept his services, and will cause 
him to continue to oppose Don Antonio (z.i?., the 
Portuguese pretender), who is upheld by the Earl of 
Leicester.' In response to this, Philip ordered his 
ambassador to assure Ralegh that 'his aid would be 
highly esteemed, and adequately rewarded.' But 
Philip was somewhat suspicious, for in his next letter 
he says: — 'As for his (Ralegh) sending for sale the 
two ships he mentions, that is out of the question, in 
the first place to avoid his being looked upon with 
suspicion in his own country, in consequence of his 
being well-treated (here), whilst all his countrymen 
are persecuted j and secondly to guard ourselves 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 49 

against the coming of the ships under this pretext 
being a feint or trick upon us — which is far from 
being improbable — but you need only mention the 
first reason to him.' 

All this may have been perfectly innocent, or more 
likely, intended to mislead the Spaniards, but it certainly 
establishes the fact that communications between 
them and Ralegh were taking place at that time. 
And yet in March 1586, when, according to 
Mendoza, he was one of the six men privy to the 
intention to kill the Queen, he writes thus to the 
Earl of Leicester, then in Holland as the Queen's 
governor, who had asked him to send over some 
English pioneers. He assures the earl of his desire 
' to performe all offices of love, honour, and service 
towards you.' * But I have byn of late very pestilent 
reported to be rather a drawer back than a fartherer 
of the action where you govern. Your Lordship doth 
well understand my affection towards Spayn, and how 
I have consumed the best part of my fortune, hating 
the tyrannous prosperity of that State ; and it were 
now Strang and monsterous that I should becum an 
enemy of my countrey and conscience.' Yet, only 
a few months afterwards, he was ostensibly offering 
his humble services to Philip to hamper English arma- 
ments against him, and wishing to sell his two armed 
ships to be used against his own country. 

However this may be, no sooner was the wretched 
Babington condemned, than he founded all his hope 

D 



50 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

of pardon upon Ralegh's action in his favour, and 
directed his cousin to offer the favourite j^iooo for 
his life. ' Show this note,' he says, * to young Master 
Lovelace, and bid him tell Master Flower that, in 
respect of the service I can do Her Majesty, I desire 
to speak with his master ' [i.e. Ralegh). It is fair to 
say, however, that there is no other known evidence 
to connect Ralegh with Babington, except the before- 
quoted assertion of the Spanish ambassador. By 
Babington's death the favourite's wealth was very 
largely increased. His own younger son's estate in 
Devonshire was a small one indeed — only the poor 
manor of Collaton Ralegh — and his Irish estates 
produced but little. But now the Queen granted to 
him nearly every acre of the broad lands in five 
English counties possessed by the unfortunate 
Babington, together with all his goods and property 
of every sort, with the sole exception of a curious 
clock which Her Majesty kept for herself. 

This may be considered as the highest point of 
Ralegh's power and splendour ; but already a younger 
rival was in the field, who, by-and-by, was to 
deprive him of much of the sovereign's personal 
regard for him. When in 1587 Mendoza had 
told his master that the reason why Ralegh was 
opposed to the plans of the Portuguese pretender, 
Don Antonio, was because the Earl of Leicester 
favoured them, he was somewhat behind the times. 
Leicester's influence over the Queen had greatly 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 51 

decreased ; and, in fact, he never was a strong 
supporter of Don Antonio, except when he could 
get some advantange for himself. The real backer 
of Don Antonio was Leicester's turbulent young 
step-son, the Earl of Essex, and it is far more pro- 
bable that Ralegh's approaches to the Spanish interests 
were prompted by a desire to check the efforts of 
the rising favourite. Essex was only twenty years 
old at the time, and this is what a courtier writes 
of his relations with the Queen, who was over fifty. 
' When she is abroad nobody is near her but my 
Lord of Essex ; and at night my Lord is at cards, 
or one game or another with her, till the birds sing 
in the morning.' But great as was the favour shown 
to him, Essex, it was gall to him if 'that knave 
Ralegh,' as he called him, shared with him the good 
graces of the Queen. _- 

On one occasion (1587) Essex thought the Queen 
had slighted him to please Ralegh ; ' for whose sake 
I saw she would both grieve me and my love, and 
disgrace me in the eye of the world. From thence 
she came to speak of Ralegh, and it seemed she 
could not well endure anything to be spoken against 
him ; and taking hold of one word " disdain^'' she said 
there was no such cause why I should disdain him. 
This speech troubled me so much that, as near as I 
could, I did describe unto her what he had been and 
what he was.' 

The insolent young noble little thought, probably, 



52 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

that his elder rival was not only a fortunate favourite, 
and the Queen's platonic lover, but a great genius, 
whose knowledge was already encyclopedic, and whose 
busy brain was teeming with far-reaching plans for 
giving England a noble share in the new found lands 
beyond the sea. 

For the present we have done with him in the 
enervating surroundings of the Court of the virgin 
Queen, and will now consider him in his capacity of 
a prime builder of the empire. 



CHAPTER IV 

SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT AND THE COLONISATION OF 

NORTH AMERICA RALEGH's PATENT FOR THE 

PLANTING OF VIRGINIA THE FIRST VOYAGE 

THITHER THE SETTLEMENT AT Vl^OKOKEN 

The age was a prodigal and lavish one. The 
wondrous tales of the gold brought from the Indies 
by the Spaniards had fired the greed of the English 
mariners, who were fully conscious now that they 
and their ships were more tjian a match for any 
others that sailed the sea. They exulted in the 
knowledge, and flinched from no opportunity of 
proving their metal. The Spaniards had found their 
way by the Straits of Magellan into the Southern 
Sea ; the dream of English mariners was to discover 
a better and nearer road still to Cathay by the north- 
west, and perhaps find gold on the way. The 
Cabots, Master Hore, and Sir Hugh Willoughby 
and others, long before, had essayed it and had failed, 
but all undismayed the Elizabethan sailors pursued 
the same phantom. In 1576 Martin Frobisher thought 

53 



54 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

he had succeeded when he slowly groped his way 
into Hudson's Bay. He had only two tiny craft 
of 35 tons each, and had no thought yet of colonisa- 
tion, but merely of opening up a new way to the 
teeming East for trade. By chance a shining piece 
of pyritic ore glittering with metal was picked up 
on the shore, and brought to England. It was 
falsely reported to be rich in gold, and the next 
year Frobisher went again and brought home three 
cargoes of the stufF. Gilbert himself wrote a treatise, 
which was published without his consent in 1576, 
demonstrating the probability of a passage being 
discovered that way to China. We have seen how his 
and Ralegh's attempt to establish an English settlement 
on the North American coast in 1578 had been frus- 
trated, but Gilbert was ever on the alert, and in the 
meantime had not been idle. The pilot, Simon 
Fernandez, had, with Walsingham's help, been sent 
to the coast of America, and had brought back 
glowing accounts of the fertility of the land. In 
the year 1583 David Ingram of Barking, mariner, 
allowed his imagination full play in describing the 
banqueting houses of crystal, with pillars of gold 
and silver, to be found there, and Captain Walker 
reported the discovery of a silver mine within the 
mystic River Norumbega. In all these attempts, the 
discovery of the north-west passage was the first 
object, the finding of gold the second, and only in 
Gilbert's case was colonisation aimed at. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 55 

But in the meanwhile Gilbert's six years' patent 
was running out, and it was necessary for him to 
make a serious attempt to effect its object. Drake's 
triumphant return from his voyage round the world 
in the autumn of 1580 had given an immense im- 
petus to the fitting out of expeditions for plunder 
and discovery in all directions, but still with no view 
to permanent settlements. With Ralegh's sudden rise 
at Court in 1582 came his step-brother's opportunity. 
The latter had been nearly ruined, * forced,' as he 
wrote to Walsingham, * to sell his wife's clothes from 
her back,' in consequence of his three ships having 
been pressed for the Queen's service in Ireland 
during the rebellion, whereby he lost ^2000, his 
ships having been stolen and carried away in his 
absence. This was written in July 158 1 ; but by 
June 1582 all had changed. Ralegh was then at 
the Queen's ear and could do- most things ; and his 
own means were spent without stint on the object 
he had nearest his heart, namely, English maritime 
and colonial enterprise. The revived project of the 
expedition was a patriotic one in two senses. There 
was a considerable number of Catholic gentlemen in 
England who were heartily tired of the continual 
contest with their fellow-countrymen which their 
religion forced upon them. They had no desire to 
become the tools of Spanish ambition. They desired 
to remain Englishmen and yet to retain the exercise 
of their faith. These ' Schismatics,' as they were 



56 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

called by the Jesuits and the extreme Catholics, were 
approached by Walsingham with a suggestion that, 
if they would provide money for the expedition, 
colonies of English Catholics could be planted on the 
American coast, where they would remain under the 
English flag, but at liberty to govern their own lives 
as they pleased. The Spanish party were horrified 
at the idea, which they said had been invented by 
Walsingham for the purpose of splitting and weaken- 
ing the Catholic party in the country. This may 
well have been the case, though we can afford now 
to give him credit for higher and more patriotic 
motives. In June 1582, accordingly, two moderate 
Catholic gentlemen, Sir George Gerrard and Sir 
Thomas Peckham, received power from Gilbert in 
virtue of his patent, ' to discover all lands and isles 
upon that part of America between Cape Florida 
and Cape Breton. Any two out of four islands 
discovered by them, or by Gilbert for them, were 
to be held by them and their heirs for ever, to- 
gether with 1,500,000 acres of land on the "supposed 
adjoining continent," paying a small chief-rent to 
Gilbert, together with two-fifths of all gold and 
silver, pearls or precious stones found.' A further 
agreement of the same date set forth, ' that for the 
more speedy executing of Her Majesty's grant, and 
the enlargement of her doyninions^ Sir Thomas Peckham 
is to be entitled to take possession of a further 
500,000 acres on the continent. 



SIR V/ALTER RALEGH 57 

Shortly before this date the Spanish ambassador had 
got wind of the project — for he had his spies every- 
where reporting upon the movements of English 
ships — and wrote to his King that, 'when the 
Queen was petitioned to aid in the expedition, 
Gilbert was told that he was to go, and when he 
had landed and fortified the place, the Queen would 
send him 10,000 men to hold it.' 

By the middle of July the matter was settled. 
The lands were to be held under the crown of 
England in fee simple. One soldier was to be 
maintained by the colonists for every 5000 acres 
occupied, and the best places were to be reserved 
for building towns, 'with sufficient ground for 
their commons of pasture rent free, and also some 
small portion, not exceeding 10 acres, to be allowed 
for every house built, for the better , maintenance 
of the poor inhabitants, reserving some small rents 
for the same. All the colonists were to be sent over 
at the cost of the realm, and each person was to 
receive a grant of 60 acres of land for three lives, 
besides common for so much cattle in the summer 
as they can keep in the winter, with such allowance 
for housebote, hedgebote and ploughbote as the 
country may serve.' There were minute con- 
ditions for manuring the lands, for the payment 
of fines and heriots, all of which feudal parapher- 
nalia reads quaintly and curiously, as applying to 
the boundless continent of America. Every poor 



58 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

colonist was to take over so much food, and 
picks, spades, saws, etc., for the cost of all of 
which the colony was to pay the mother country 
every third year — * which can be no loss to 
England.' 

Every person who paid his own passage, and 
brought with him a sword and harquebuss, was 
to have six score acres of land, and every gentle- 
man with five followers was to receive a grant of 
2000 acres in fee simple, and every adventurer of 
;^5, 1000 acres. Each parish was to consist 
of exactly 3 miles square, with the church in 
the midst, the minister to have his tithes, and 
300 acres of land free, each bishop 10,000 acres, 
and each archbishop 20,000 acres. It will thus 
be seen that the project was a large one ; the 
intention being really to plant a great England 
in North America. The Spaniards fully understood 
it in this light. Mendoza wrote to his master on 
the day following the signing of the agreement, 
from which the above particulars are extracted 
(8th July 1582) : — 'As I wrote some time ago, 
Humphrey Gilbert is fitting out ships to gain a 
footing in Florida, and in order to make this 
not only prejudicial to Your Majesty's interests, 
but injurious to Catholics here, whilst benefiting 
the heretics, Walsingham approached two Catholic 
gentlemen, whose estate had been ruined, and in- 
timated to them that, if they would help Humphrey 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 59 

Gilbert in the voyage, their lives and liberties might 
be saved, and the Queen might . . . allow them to 
settle there in the enjoyment of freedom of con- 
science, and of their property in England, for w^hich 
purpose they might avail themselves of the inter- 
cession of Philip Sidney. As they vi^ere desirous 
of living as Catholics, without endangering their 
lives, they thought the proposal a good one. They 
with other Catholics have petitioned the Queen, 
and she has granted them a patent ... to colonise 
Florida, on the banks of the Norumbega, where 
they are to be allowed to live as their conscience dic- 
tates, and to enjoy such revenues as they possess in 
England.' The writer then gives an account of 
the efforts he has made to dissuade the Catholics 
from the project. He tells them it is only a trick 
to destroy them, that the country in question be- 
longed to Spain, and they would all- be murdered, 
as Ribaut was, that they were acting against the 
interests of His Holiness, whose leave should first 
be asked. Father Allen, at Rome, was warned also 
to induce the Pope to ban the expedition. But 
still the project went on, and in the summer two 
ships were sent to reconnoitre the sites of the in- 
tended settlements. 

By December 1582, a great company of ad- 
venturers was formed to trade with the new 
colony, most of the principal people in England 
having shares in it, including all those — Ralegh 



Go BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

amongst them — who had been partners in Gilbert's 
former abortive attempt. For the purpose of 
taking part in the expedition, of which he was 
to be Vice-Admiral, Ralegh decided to put into 
practice some of his advanced theories with regard 
to naval construction, and built a ship of 200 tons, 
which he called the Bark-Ralegh. The exact con- 
struction of this vessel is not known, but it has 
been usual to confuse her with the much larger 
vessel called the Ark-Ralegh^ built by Ralegh in 
1587, and employed in the Armada. The larger 
ship, the Ark-Ralegh.^ was looked upon as a sort 
of wonder ; and Lord Admiral Howard, who had 
hoisted his pennant on it, calls it the oddest ship 
in the world, and the best for all conditions. 

At length, in the spring of 1583, all was ready for 
sailing. The Queen had vetoed the going of Ralegh 
himself ; and mindful of Gilbert's former misfortune, 
endeavoured to restrain him also. He had started first 
in February, but was driven back and kept at South- 
ampton, and she, or Walsingham for her, sent him 
word that she wished him to stay at-home, 'as a man 
noted for no good hap at sea.' But he pleaded hard 
to be allowed to go. He had spent, he said, all his 
means on the enterprise, had sold his lands, and risked 
everything. His unfortunate return on the last 
occasion was only because he would not do, or allow 
others to do, anything against the Queen's command. 
The Queen was appeased, and ordered Ralegh to 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 61 

send to Sir Humphrey a token and the following 
letter : — 

' RicHMONDE, ijth March 1583. 

* Brother, — I have sent you a token from Her 
Majestie, an anchor guided by a lady as you see ; and 
farther, Her Highness willed me to sende you worde 
that she wished you as great good hap, and safty to 
your ship, as if her sealf were ther in person : desiring 
you to have care of your sealf, as of that which she 
tendereth ; and therefore for her sake you must pro- 
vide for it accordingly. 

'Further, she commandeth mc that you leve your 
picture with me. For the rest I leve till our meet- 
ing, or to the report of this bearer, who would needs 
be messengre of this good newse. So I committ 
you to the will and protection of God, Who send us 
such life or death as He shall please, or hath appointed. 
Your treu brother, W. Ralegh.' 

It was the nth June before the expedition sailed. 
The Bark-Ralegh of 200 tons was much the largest of 
the ships ; but they had hardly got out of the 
Channel when she deserted them and came back. It 
was said that a contagious disease had broken out on 
board, but evidently Sir Humphrey did not believe, or 
was unaware of it, for he wrote angrily to Sir George 
Peckham, that she had run from him in fair clear 
weather, having a large wind. 'I pray you solicit 
my brother Ralegh to make them an example to 



6z BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

all knaves.' With the other four little ships Sir 
Humphrey sailed west until he reached the coast of 
Newfoundland. This was not the place it was in- 
tended to colonise, but as he was there he took pos- 
session of it for the English crown by the quaint 
ceremony of cutting a sod and accepting a hazel 
wand. There were thirty or forty fishing boats of 
various nationalities off the coast, and Gilbert invited 
the captains on shore to witness the ceremony. Many 
of them came, and offered no protest. They were 
peaceful folk, and it was perhaps wise that they did 
not. The Queen's arms were set up on the shore, 
and nominal grants of territory were given to the 
members of the expedition. But they were a lawless 
lot, and whilst Gilbert was on shore, his crews tried 
to desert with his ships, failing in which they robbed 
the fishing boats. Many fell sick and had to be sent 
home in the Swallow; many more died, and the 
commander, with his remaining three ships, was glad 
to sail for the more hospitable south, where the new 
colony was to be founded. They left St John's on 
the 20th August, and were driven backwards and 
forwards on the tempestuous North Atlantic until 
the 20th, when the Delight ran on a bank and was 
wrecked. The other two vessels, the Golden Hinde^ 
and a tiny cockboat of lO tons burden called the 
Squirrel^ overladen, crowded with sick, beset by perils, 
still battled against head winds. Terrible marine 
monsters were seen ; shoals, storms, and fog took 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 63 

hope and spirit from the men, who prayed Gilbert to 
abandon the voyage, and set his course to England. 
When they had arrived at a point north of the Azores, 
still in fearful weather, it became apparent that the 
Squirrel could not live through the sea. The men 
on the Golden Hinde besought Gilbert to leave the 
crazy, overloaded boat and go on board the larger 
vessel, but he resolutely refused. ' I will- not,' he said, 
' forsake my little company with whom I have passed 
through so many perils.' Those on the Golden Hinde 
saw him calmly, with a book in his hand, sitting in the 
stern of his doomed craft, and as the ships on one 
occasion came v/ithin hailing distance, he cried out to 
them, '■ Be of good heart, my friends. We are as 
near to Heaven by sea as by land,' A few hours 
afterwards, on the night of the 9th September, the 
light of the Squirrel was suddenly quenched, and 
brave Sir Humphrey and his little company were seen 
no more. He had faced death on the seas a hundred 
times before, and could look upon it undismayed, as 
such a hero should. He had risked all he had in the 
venture, and probably courted death rather than return 
home with the indelible brand upon him of ' a man of 
no good hap at sea.' 

The Golden Hinde found her way into Falmouth 
on the 22d September, with the dismal news that 
Gilbert's second attempt to colonise North America 
for England had failed more disastrously than the 
first. The great dream of the Gilberts, like that of 



64 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Cabot, Willoughby, Frobisherj Davis, and most 
English seamen of the time, was the discovery of a 
north-west passage to China ; and to this task the 
younger of the brothers, Adrian Gilbert, succeeded 
Sir Humphrey, always with the support and help of 
Ralegh. But the genius of the latter enabled him to 
foresee the importance of the still greater work — that 
of founding an English nation across the sea, as he 
himself expressed it — and to this idea through evil 
fortune, and through good, he was true to the rest of 
his life — even to martyrdom. 

On the 24th March 1584, fresh letters-patent were 
granted, giving to Sir Walter Ralegh, Esq., and his 
heirs ' free liberty to discover barbarous countries, not 
actually possessed of any Christian prince and inhabited 
by Christian people, to occupy and enjoy the same for 
ever.' The country was to be held by homage to 
the Sovereign of England, who was to receive the 
fifth part of all precious metals found. The inhabi- 
tants were to ' enjoy all the privileges of free denizens 
of England,' and Ralegh or his representatives were 
to have power ' to punish, pardon, govern and rule ' ; 
the laws to be ' as near as may be agreeable to the 
laws of England.' Exactly a month after this (on 
the 27th April 1584) Ralegh dispatched two of his 
captains, Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow, under 
the guidance of the pilot Simon Fernandez, on a 
reconnoitring voyage to the proposed settlement, 
which had previously been fixed upon five years before 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 65 

by Fernandez. They wrongly calculated that the 
current from the Gulf of Mexico would have carried 
them greatly in a northerly direction, and accordingly 
set their course far to the south of the point they 
desired to gain. Touching the Canaries on the lOth 
May, they reached the West Indies on the loth June. 
They then stretched across to the mainland of Florida, 
which they reached on the 4th July, and thence 
groped up the coast to the point previously selected 
by Fernandez, arriving there on the 13th July. In 
the report furnished by the captains to Ralegh, they 
describe how they entered the harbour, three harque- 
buss shots' distance inland, and then landed and took 
possession for the Queen of England. Grapes in 
marvellous abundance grew down to the water's edge ; 
magnificent cedars and other trees abounded, and the 
soil appeared to them to be of wonderful fertility. 
On further search, they found'' the -land to be an 
island, 20 miles long, and about 6 broad, running 
parallel with the continent, forming part of a chain of 
similar islands, extending for a distance of 200 miles 
along the coast. The natives they found unsuspicious 
of all harm, peaceful, conciliatory and mild. The 
brother of the King of the country which they called 
Wingandecoia — the name of the island being Woke- 
ken — came to them with a band of natives who soon 
became extremely friendly. Skins, coral and pearls 
were brought freely in exchange for the wonderful 
treasures of the white man. The King's brother was 

E 



66 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

especially enamoured of a tin dish, which he obtained 

and suspended from his neck as a defence against the 

darts of enemies. * He had,' says the captains, ' a 

great liking for our armour, a sword, and divers other 

things which we had, and offered to lay a great box 

of pearls in gage for them. But we refused it for 

this time, because we would not make them know we 

esteemed thereof, until we had understood in what 

places of the country the pearls grew.' A glowing 

picture is given of the luxuriance of the vegetation. 

Two crops of corn were gathered in the year, and 

food, especially fruit, was so abundant, that the 

narrators are obliged to confess that surely this was 

the best soil under heaven. The elaborate conditions 

in the original patent as to the proper periodical 

manuring of the land must have struck the discoverers 

as strangely unnecessary, now that, for the first time, 

their eyes rested upon the teeming virgin soil of the 

West. They heard of a great city five days' journey 

away, called Sicoak, and themselves visited the next 

island of the chain, that of Roanoak ; and then, 

bringing away with them two of the mild natives, 

Manteo and Wanchese, they sailed to take the news 

to Ralegh of the fertile country of which he in future 

was to be the lord. The booty they brought with 

them was not magnificent, consisting as it did only 

of skins and a bracelet of pearls, *as big as peasen,' 

but it doubtless satisfied Ralegh. What he wanted 

was a firm foothold for his countrymen on the northern 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 67 

continent of America, which should balance the over- 
weening power of the Spaniards in the South. In after 
years, it became necessary for him to hold out the 
bait of gold, in .order to attract adventurers to aid his 
expeditions with funds, but it was never his own 
prime object, much as he loved the splendour for 
which it would pay. 

The misfortune of the Spanish dominion in the 
Indies had always been that the main object of the 
explorers had been gold. Their first question on 
landing had been as to its presence and whereabouts ; 
and the heartrending cruelties perpetrated upon in- 
offensive natives to extort the disclosure of their 
supposed treasures had shocked the more humane of 
the Spaniards themselves. The capture and sacking 
of Quito and Cuzco with their countless hoards of 
gold and gems, the pillage of the Incas with wealth 
beyond conception, had inflamed the greed of the 
world ; and the bait which had drawn the earlier 
English navigators to the West had been a share, 
either by discovery or plunder, of the golden stream 
which seemed inexhaustible. 

It is to the lasting glory of Ralegh that his clear 
prescience pierced beyond the momentary advantage 
of easily gained mineral wealth. He and his brother 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, indeed, were the forerunners 
of the school of thought which has now grown 
predominant, namely, that gold itself is only one 
instrument of commerce, not a substitute for it. 



68 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Gilbert in his treatise on the existence of a north- 
west passage, which was published without authority 
by Ralegh's friend Gascoigne, and shows unmistak- 
able signs of Ralegh's own hand, points out the 
advantage of planting settlements in suitable situa- 
tions under English rule, as a means of extending 
and enriching commerce, and of furnishing employ- 
ment ' to those needy people who trouble the 
commonwealth through want at home.' Captain 
Carleill, who was a follower of Ralegh, and Thomas 
Hariot, the famous mathematician, who was employed 
by him to report upon the natural productions and 
commercial capabilities of Virginia, both enforced the 
principles, then novel, which had been conceived by 
the master mind, namely, that colonisation, trade, 
and the enlargement of empire were all more im- 
portant for the welfare of England than the discovery 
of gold. Purchas publishes an anonymous treatise 
written during Ralegh's life — at the beginning of the 
seventeenth century — which shows how quickly his 
ideas had taken hold of the more thinking minds 
of his countrymen. The sound views of political 
economy expressed therein were practically undreamt 
of before Ralegh's time. ' The very name of colony,' 
says the author, ' imports a reasonable and seasonable 
culture and planting, before a harvest or vintage can 
be expected. Though gold and silver have enriched 
the Spanish exchequer, yet their storehouses hold 
other and greater wealth, whereof Virginia is no less 




c S 



t 2 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 69 

capable, namely, the country's commodities. What 
mines have they in Brazil and in the islands where 
yet so many wealthy Spaniards and Portuguese in- 
habit ? Their ginger, hides, tobacco, and other 
merchandise, it may be boldly affirmed, yield far 
more profit to the generality of the Spanish subjects 
than the mines do, or have done this last age. Who 
gave gold and silver the monopoly of wealth, or made 
them the Almighty's favourites ? That is the richest 
land which feeds most men. What remarkable mines 
hath France, Belgium, Lombardy ? What this our 
fertile mother England ? Do we not see that the 
silks, calicoes, drugs and spices of the East swallow up 
all the mines of the West ? ' 

These or similar ideas were those which animated 
Ralegh in his first attempts to establish an ' English 
nation ' on the other side of the Atlantic, and they 
have been justified by the added experience of three 
centuries. 

The two captains returned to England in September 
1584 with their glowing report of the new land they 
had visited, and with the natives they had brought. 
Ralegh submitted the information to the Queen, 
who herself dubbed the new dominion Virginia, and 
then the favourite set about his colonising plans in 
earnest. He was chosen one of the members of 
parliament for Devonshire at the end of the year ; 
and early in 1585 obtained a parliamentary confirma- 
tion of his colonising patent. But the Spaniards 



70 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

were watching him with jealous eyes. Drake was fit- 
ting out his expedition to the West Indies to sack and 
plunder ; Ralegh being one of the shareholders. Under 
his auspices, and those of Adrian Gilbert, Davis was 
preparing for another attempt to discover the north- 
west passage, and English rovers were busier than 
ever lying in wait for the rich Spanish galleons. The 
Spanish ambassador had been expelled from England, 
and a state of war existed between the two countries ; 
but Mendoza, in Paris, had his spies in every Eng- 
lish port, and ceaselessly sent to his master minute 
accounts of the movements of English shipping. On 
the 22d Febuary 1585, he writes: — 'The Queen 
has knighted Ralegh, her favourite, and has given 
him a ship of her own of 180 tons burden, with five 
pieces of artillery on each side, and two culverins in 
the bows. Ralegh has also bought two Dutch fly- 
boats of 120 tons each to carry stores, and two other 
boats of 40 tons, in addition to which he is having 
built four pinnaces of 20 to 30 tons each. Altogether 
Ralegh will fit out no fewer than 16 vessels, in which 
he intends to convey 400 men. The Queen has 
assured him that if he will refrain from going himself 
she will defray all the expenses of the preparations. 
Ralegh's fleet will be ready to sail for Norumbega 
at the beginning of next month.' How disturbed 
the Spaniards were at all these preparations is seen in 
a letter from Hakluyt, in Paris, to Walsingham on the 
7th April. ' The rumour of Sir Walter Rawley's 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 71 

fleet, and especially the preparations of Sir Francis 
Drake, doth so much vex the Spaniard and his factors, 
as nothing can be more, and therefore I could 
wish that although Sir Francis Drake's journey be 
stayed, yet the rumour of his setting forth might 
continue.' They had reason to be vexed, for the 
English * corsairs ' were growing ever bolder, and a 
few weeks after this was written, a ship called the 
Primrose entered the river at Bilbao, kidnapped the 
Lieutenant-Governor of Biscay, and a number of his 
countrymen, and coolly brought them to Eng- 
land for ransom. 

Unfortunately the Queen's affection for Ralegh 
prevented him from personally accompanying his 
colonial expedition, which was accordingly entrusted 
to the command of his cousin Sir Richard Grenville. 
Like most of the men of his stamp and period, he 
was brave and magnanimous to a fault, but over- 
bearing, proud, and tyrannical. Fight and plunder 
were what he gloried in, and the far-reaching ideas 
of his statesman-cousin with regard to the extension 
of commerce and empire probably appealed to him 
but little. In any case, he exhibited no tact in 
carrying them out. 

The expedition sailed from Plymouth on the 9th 
April 1585, and consisted of a smaller number of vessels 
than that reported by the Spanish ambassador. There 
was the Tyger of 140 tons, the Roebuck of 140, the Lyon 
of 100, the Elizabeth of 50, the Dorothy and two other 



72 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

small pinnaces, seven sail in all ; and besides Grenville 
there were Ralph Lane, one of the Queen's equerries, 
who was to be the governor of the new colony, 
Captain Amadas, Thomas Cavendish, John Arundell, 
Stukeley, Hariot, the Indian Manteo, and over a 
hundred colonists. They, too, went a very roundabout 
course, arriving at Lanzarote on the 14th April, at 
Dominica on the 7th May, and on the 12th landed in 
Mosquito Bay, Porto Rico, where they entrenched 
themselves and set about building a new pinnace. 
This was decidedly against instructions, as they were 
not to assail the dominions of any Christian prince, 
and the Spaniards were unquestionably in possession 
of the island. After some days of spying upon the 
intruders, the Spanish officials came with a flag of 
truce and mildly expostulated with Grenville for erect- 
ing a fortification on their territory. With some dis- 
cussion they were reassured, and they promised a supply 
of provisions, which for some reason-^Grenville calls 
it their 'habitual perjurie' — they delayed or neglected 
to bring ; ' so we fired the woods all about,' and 
sailed away on the 29th. On the ist June the 
expedition anchored in the Bay of Isabela, in the 
island of Hispaniola, after capturing an unoffending 
Spanish frigate. They found the Spanish governor 
extremely hospitable and friendly, which attitude they 
rather ungenerously ascribed to his fear of their 
superior forces. In any case, his friendship for the 
English must soon have received a rude shock when 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 73 

Drake, a few months afterwards, sacked and plundered 
the chief town of the island. On the 7th June they 
took their departure, and sailing along the Bahamas, 
sighted the mainland of what was then called Florida, 
but is now the State of South Carolina, somewhere 
north of the site of the present Charleston, on the 
20th June. They were nearly wrecked off Cape 
Fear three days afterwards, and on the 26th reached 
their destination, the island of Wokoken. The 
entrance they made use of seems to have been the 
Okeracoke Inlet, and in this entrance they nearly 
wrecked the Tyger^ one of their principal ships, on the 
29th, by the fault, according to Grenville, of the 
pilot Fernandez. They lost no time in sending news 
of their arrival to the friendly chief Wingina on the 
larger island of Roanoak ; and on the nth July Gren- 
ville, Arundell, Stukeley, Hariot, Governor Lane, and 
Assistant-Governor Amadas, victualled for eight days, 
set forth to effect a landing on the continent of North 
America. They heard rumours of great towns 
and powerful peoples, all more or less vague, but 
from the petty chiefs they met they experienced 
nothing but kindness and hospitality. On their 
expedition one of the savages stole a silver cup, 
and a boat was sent ashore to demand the restitution, 
which was promised by the chief. The promise 
apparently was not kept, and the whole town was 
consequently ' burned and spoyled ' in revenge, the 
first of a series of feuds, which changed the kindly 



74 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

aborigines into stealthy, cruel enemies of the white men. 
The furthest point north reached by the expedition on 
this occasion appears to have been Cape Hatteras ; and 
on the 27th July they again arrived at the site of the 
future settlement, on the island of Wokoken. Houses 
having been erected, and stores of all sorts landed, the 
first colony of England in the west was formerly in- 
augurated, with Ralph Lane as governor, and 107 
settlers ; and Sir Richard Grenville sailed away for 
England on the 25th August. Governor Lane re- 
ported to Walsingham that Grenville had from the 
first exhibited intolerable pride and ambition towards 
the entire company, and they were probably not very 
sorry to see the back of him. He had left the colonists 
sufficient supplies to last them for a year, but faithfully 
promised to return before the following Easter with 
fresh provisions. Six days after leaving the settlement 
Grenville fell in with a Spanish ship, richly laden, of 
300 tons burden. He had no proper ship's boat, but 
was determined not to be baulked of so tempting a 
prize as this, so he and his men shifted to board her in 
a boat made of sides of provision chests, which with 
difficulty could be kept afloat until it was brought 
alongside the Spanish ship. The moment they 
boarded the prize their boat went down, but the 
poor Spaniards made no resistance and were meekly 
carried to England by their captors, arriving in 
Plymouth Sound on the i8th October. On board 
the prize the principal treasure was a fine cabinet 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 75 

of pearls ; and much wrangling ensued between the 
captors as to their respective shares of the booty. 
Sir Lewis Stukeley, who was afterwards Ralegh's jailer 
and betrayer, said that Ralegh had charged Elizabeth 
with taking all the pearls for herself, * without so 
much as even giving him one pearl ' ; which, indeed, 
was an extremely likely thing for her to do, though it 
was unlike Ralegh to talk about it. Amongst the 
men who had been pressed in Plymouth to accompany 
the expedition was a German shipmaster, who, much 
against his will, accompanied Grenville through the 
voyage. It was not easy for him to get away from 
England when he came back, but eventually he 
managed to find his way to Spain, and gave Philip 
a long account in Latin of the^whole voyage. This 
was sent to Philip's ambassador in Paris, and in 
reference thereto the ambassador sent his master 
some further interesting particulars. He says, * The 
ship which this captain says was captured by Ralegh's 
expedition, with so large a treasure in gold, silver, 
pearls, cochineal, sugar, ivory and hides was the one 
I advised Your Majesty of months ago as having 
arrived in England, and that Ralegh himself had 
gone down to the port to take possession of her 
cargo, so as not to allow it to be distributed amongst 
the sailors.' The Queen had granted 70 fresh 
letters of marque in reprisal for the embargo placed 
on English ships in Biscay ports, and the sea posi- 
tively swarmed with privateers. Philip and his officers 



76 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

were in despair, for the command of the sea was even 
now slipping away from him. The friendly treat- 
ment which Ralegh's expedition had encountered 
at Porto Rico and Hispaniola was reported to the 
King by the German captain, and excited great 
indignation against the officials. Spanish settlers 
were accused even of making signal fires at night 
to give notice to the English privateers that they 
were willing to exchange food for merchandise — 
merchandise which had mostly been stolen from out- 
v/ard bound Spaniards. Matters had reached such a 
pass, indeed, that it is difficult to blame the settlers. 
Philip had prohibited all traffic with the Indies except 
by means of Spanish ships sailing from Seville. These 
ships regularly took the same course, by the Azores, 
where they were just as regularly captured by the 
crowds of corsairs that awaited them ; and storm 
and punish as Philip and his officers might, it often 
happened that the only means the Spanish settlers 
had of obtaining European commodities at all was 
through the English privateers. 



CHAPTER V 

THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA TOBACCO THE 

SECOND COLONY OF VIRGINIA THE ARMADA 

ABANDONMENT OF THE VIRGINIAN SETTLERS 

Most of the misfortunes which befell Ralegh's attempt 
to settle his new dominion arose from tl>e fact that his 
duties near the Oueen prevented him from giving it 
the benefit of his personal supervision. His power, 
prestige, knowledge of men and enthusiasm would 
probably have saved the colonists from the insub- 
ordination and folly which led to their failure. 
Lane manfully did his best, and sent home by Gren- 
ville glowing accounts of the country. To Walsing- 
ham (i2th August 1585) he wrote that they had 
' discovered so many rare and singular commodities 
in Her Majesty's new kingdom of Virginia, that no 
state in Christendom do yield better or more plenti- 
ful, and the ship's freight we are sending will prove 
I do not lie.' He says that they have named the 
three ports, Trinity, Scarborough and Ocana, where 
the fleet stuck, and the Tyger was nearly lost. The 

77 



78 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

best port, which was discovered by the pilot -major 
Simon Fernandez, would, he says, be able to resist the 
whole force of Spain. He continues, — 'We have 
undertaken to remain with a good company, rather 
to lose our lives than to defer the possession of so 
noble a kingdom to the Queen, our country and 
our noble patron Sir Walter Ralegh, through whose 
and your worship's (Walsingham's) most worthy 
endeavour and infinite charge, an honourable entry 
is made to the conquest. ... I am assured that we 
will by this means be relieved of the tyranny of the 
Spaniards, and that the Papists will not be suffered 
by God to triumph. . . . God will command even 
the ravens to feed us.' 

But after Grenville's departure affairs grew less 
promising, and Lane's position became more difficult. 
Quarrels soon broke out amongst the settlers them- 
selves, and between them and the Indians, whom the 
first visitors had described as ' the most gentle, 
loving and faithful, void of all guile and treason, and 
such as live after the manner of the golden age.' It 
is impossible to say now on which side the fault lay, 
but differences arose between the settlers and the 
Indians almost as soon as Grenville sailed away. The 
settlers ploughed, planted and sowed ; explored for 
pearl-fisheries and mines ; and Hariot especially was 
indefatigable in obtaining knowledge of the natural 
products of the country. He it was who first tried 
the native habit of smoking tobacco, and enjoyed it ; 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 79 

the food value of the potato also appealed strongly 
to his practical wisdom, and he urged the experiment 
of its cultivation in England. The governor explored 
and took possession of the coast for a distance of 80 
miles south of Roanoak and 130 to the north, as 
far as the Chesapeake. In the spring the King's 
brother Granganimeo, the friend of the English, died. 
Lane in his subsequent apology alleges that the King, 
Wingina, then under another name, plotted an in- 
surrection against the English, for which he and his 
friends were put to death, another chief called Okisa 
doing homage to the Queen of England in his stead. 

Grenville had promised to return by Easter, but he 
came not, and the colonists lost heart. The provisions 
were well nigh exhausted, altliough the corn was 
almost ready for cutting, when, on the loth June 1586, 
a large fleet of ships appeared on the coast. This 
could not be Grenville, they knew, for he would not 
come in so strong a force. Their anxiety was soon 
relieved by learning that the fleet was that of Sir 
Francis Drake, gorged with plunder from the sack 
of Cartagena and Santo Domingo. The admiral had 
bethought him to visit the new colony on his way 
home, and it may be imagined how the disheartened 
settlers would yearn with homesickness to desert their 
savage quarters, and sail in a powerful and prosperous 
fleet back again to their native land. At first they 
were appeased by the gift of fresh supplies, ammunition, 
and two boats, in which Lane promised them that 



8o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

they should all return to England in August, unless 
Grenville came in the meanwhile with re-inforce- 
ments. But as they were writing letters to their 
friends in England for Drake to carry home, a 
tempest sprang up and drove many of the ships out 
to sea ; amongst them the vessels with the provisions 
and pilots destined for the relief of the colonists, with 
many of the latter who were on board. In vain Sir 
Francis offered the rest of them another ship and 
supplies ; they insisted upon being taken on board 
the fleet and conveyed to England. Drake at last 
gave way, and the whole of the remaining colonists 
sailed for England on the 19th June. 

Even before Grenville had arrived in England, 
Ralegh had ordered supplies to be prepared for the 
relief of his people in Virginia. Some slight delay 
had taken place in their departure, probably owing to 
the dispute about the division of the plunder from the 
prize. A swift vessel, of 100 tons burden, sailed, 
however, soon after Easter with all necessary stores 
for the colonists. It arrived at the deserted settle- 
ment almost immediately after Drake had sailed, and 
after unsuccessfully searching for the settlers, was 
forced to return to England with the stores intact. 
About a fortnight after she had left. Sir Richard 
Grenville himself, with the main relief and some fresh 
intended colonists, appeared at Port Ferdinando, as 
the settlers called their principal harbour. He, of 
course, was equally unsuccessful in his search for the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 81 

colonists, and in his turn had to set sail for England, 
after leaving 15 new men on the island of Roanoak to 
continue the possession of the dominion. 

On his way home Grenville, as usual, fell to 
plundering such Spanish ships as came in his way ; 
and the voyage was not an unprofitable one to 
Ralegh, although the main object had failed. Ralegh, 
indeed, v/as quite largely engaged in the privateering 
business at the time. Most of the details of the 
voyages have, naturally, not been recorded ; they were 
more or less business enterprises, and were looked upon 
in a very prosaic light. But by the industry of a 
certain John Evesham, gentleman, a musketeer on 
board of one of Ralegh's two pinnaces Serpent (35 
tons) and Mary Spark (50 tons), we have in Hakluyt 
an interesting account of the proceedings of the two 
pinnaces during this summer of 1586. Sailing on the 
loth June, they first captured a barque loaded with 
shumach, with the Governor of S^ Michael's on board ; 
then when ofF the island of Graciosa they sighted a 
flotilla of homeward bound Spaniards to windward of 
them. Hoisting the Spanish flag, Ralegh's pinnaces 
gradually crept near their prey. When they came 
near enough, down went the false flag and up to the 
peak went the cross of S^ George. The first vessel 
they overhauled proved to be only a fisherman and 
not worth the keeping, so she was let go again ; but 
the delay in taking her had given time for the other 
richly-loaded ships and a caravel to creep under the 

F 



82 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

guns of Graciosa. The pinnaces were to leeward, 
and could not approach near enough to attack ; and 
the Spaniards thought themselves safe for the time ; 
but, says Evesham, we had a small boat called a 
lighthorseman in which a musketeer (myself) and 
four men with calivers and four rowers entered, and 
rowed towards them. The Spaniards were hurriedly 
attempting to land their precious cargoes, and there 
were 150 musketeers on the beach to protect them, 
but the gallant little 'lighthorseman,' with its five 
gunners, cut out the Spanish ships from under the 
very cannon of the fort, and towed the caravel and her 
cargo out to sea. Two more of the ships were then 
captured and manned by English sailors, all the 
Spaniards being released but those who were worth 
ransom, especially the already mentioned Sarmiento 
de Gamboa, Governor of Patagonia. These three 
rich prizes being sent home, there were left only 60 
men on the pinnaces. Thus weakened, they fell in 
with two great carracks of 1200 tons burden, ten 
galleons, and as many caravels, loaded with treasure. 
Nothing daunted, the two tiny pinnaces engaged the 
whole fleet for thirty-two hours in succession, and 
finally sailed away — without capturing them it is 
true, but without the loss of a single man. 

The deserting colonists from Virginia arrived at 
Plymouth in Drake's fleet at the end of July, and 
brought with them into England, probably for the 
first time, the habit of smoking tobacco, which Ralegh 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 83 

himself subsequently made fashionable at Court. The 
practice met with considerable opposition at first, and 
a proclamation was issued against it as the imitation of 
the manners of savage people. Camden says that it 
was feared that the English would degenerate thereby 
into barbarism. 

The learned Hariot, however, was loud in his 
praises of the medical virtue of tobacco. The descrip- 
tion he gives of the cultivation of the plant by the 
Indians is quaint. He says that they distinguished it 
by sowing it apart from all other vegetables, and held 
it of the highest estimation in all their sacrifices by 
fire, water and air ; either for thanksgiving to, or 
pacification of, their gods. 'And as by sucking it 
through pipes of clay, they purged all 'gross humours 
from the head and stomach, opened all the pores and 
passages of the body, preserving it from obstructions 
or breaking them, whereby they notably preserved 
their health, and knew not many grievous diseases, 
wherewith we in England are often afflicted. So we 
ourselves during the time we were there used to suck 
it after their manner, as also since our return, and have 
found many rare and wonderful experiments of its 
virtues, whereof the relation would require a volume 
by itself; the use of which by so many men and 
women of great calling, as well as others, and some 
learned physicians also, is sufncient witness.' The 
* learned physicians ' and others would probably have 
cried up in vain the virtue of the plant, had not the 



84 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

splendid Ralegh made it fashionable amongst the fine 
Court gentlemen, who envied, imitated and admired 
him. 

Howell tells the story that Ralegh was descanting 
to the Oueen upon the virtues of the new herb — the 
use of which had been strongly encouraged in France 
by her rival Queen Catherine de Medici — when he 
assured Her Majesty he had so well experienced the 
nature of it, that he could tell her what weight even 
the smoke would be in any quantity proposed to be 
consumed. ' Her Majesty, fixing her thoughts upon 
the most impracticable part of the experiment, that of 
bounding the smoke in a balance, suspected that he 
put the traveller upon her, and would needs lay him 
a wager that he could not solve the doubt : so he pro- 
cured a quantity agreed upon, to be thoroughly 
smoked, then went to weighing, but it was of the 
ashes, and in conclusion what was wanting in the prime 
weight of the tobacco Her Majesty did not deny to 
have been evaporated in smoke, and further said that 
many labourers, in the fire she had heard of, who 
turned their gold into smoke, but Ralegh was the 
first who had turned smoke into gold.' 

As is usually the case in similar enterprises, some 
of the returned colonists sought to cast the blame 
of their failure upon the qualities of the new country. 
Fortunately, however, there was at least one man 
amongst them of advanced, enlightened views and 
trained intelligence, v/ho published a defence of it in a 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 85 

notable treatise published shortly afterwards. This was 
Thomas Hariot, who had been specially commissioned by 
Ralegh to report minutely upon the natural products 
and capabilities of the region, and his work is per- 
haps the first methodical statistical survey of a country 
ever published in English. He describes with great 
care the merchantable products of the country, and 
the best means for turning the possession to 
profit.* 

* Seeing the air there,' he says, ' is so temperate 
and wholesome, the soil so fertile, and yielding such 
commodities as I have before mentioned ; the voyage 
also to and fro sufficiently experienced to be per- 
formed twice a year with ease, and at any season ; 
and the dealings of Sir Walter Ralegh so liberal 
in giving and granting lands there, as is already 
known with many helps and futherances else ; the 
least that he hath granted having been 500 acres 
to a man only for the adventure of his person, I 

• It was published in 1588, and was called A Brief e and true 
report of the neiv found land of Virginia, of the commodities there 
found and to be raysed, as luell marchantable as others for "victual, 
building and other neccssarie use for those that are or shall be planters 
there ; and of the nature and manner of the naturall inhabitants 
discovered by the English Colony there seated by Sir Richard Gren-ville, 
Kt., in the yeere 1585, -which remained under the go-vernment of Rafe 
Lane, Esq., one of Her Majestic' s equerries, during the space of 12 
moneths. At the special charge of the Hor.ble. Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt. ; 
directed to the ad-venturers, fanjourers and ivell-ivishers of the action 
of inhabiting and planting there ; by Thomas Hariot, servant of the 
abo-ve-named Sir Walther, a member of the Colony, and there employed 
in the disco-vcrie. London, 1588. 



86 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

hope there remains no cause whereby the action 
should be misHked.' 

Doubtless the real reason for the discouragement 
of the colonists was the absence of gold in the 
new country. The ideas of Ralegh and Hariot 
were in advance of the times ; the majority of the 
adventurers had no taste for permanent expatriation 
and the slow toil of agriculture in a new country. 
The idea of all such men was to grow suddenly 
rich by plunder or the discovery of gold, and to 
return home to spend their wealth ; the colonisa- 
tion of an agricultural country, indeed, was calculated 
to be of permanent benefit to the nation, but could 
hardly bring great or rapid riches to the persons 
who took part in it. Ralegh's perseverance in it 
at his own expense becomes in this light the more 
patriotic. He obtained, it is true, vast sums of 
money, but he spent them lavishly in what he 
conceived to be the public goodr However this 
may have been ignored by the crowd, with whom 
Ralegh was always unpopular, it was recognised by 
the wiser heads of the time. Hooker, in his dedica- 
tion to him of his Irish History, says, ' It is well 
known that it had been no less easy for you than 
for such as have been advanced by kings to have 
builded great houses, purchased great circuits, and 
to have used the fruits of princes' favours, as most 
men in all former and present ages have done, had 
you not preferred the general honour and commodity 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 87 

of your prince and country before all that is private, 
whereby you have been rather a servant than a 
Commander of your own fortune.' The cost of the 
three previous expeditions to Virginia had already 
been enormous, and had been almost entirely defrayed 
by Ralegh ; but on the return of Grenville he lost 
no time in making another attempt. He selected 
150 more men as colonists, with a Mr John White 
as governor, with a council of government of 12 
associates. These he incorporated under the title 
of * The governor and assistants of the city of Ralegh 
in Virginia,' and the expedition sailed from Ports- 
mouth on the 26th April 1587. It suited Elizabeth 
for the moment to feign a desire tp be friendly 
with Spain, and Ralegh was warned -that there must 
be no attacks upon Spaniards on this occasion ; so 
that the expedition made direct for Cape Hatteras, 
which was reached within three months. Thence 
they went to the fort on the island of Roanoak to seek 
the 15 men left there by Grenville the year before, 
the intention being to take them off, and establish 
the new city of Ralegh in Chesapeake Bay. But 
they found Lane's fort and houses on the north 
point of Roanoak in ruins and already overgrown 
with vegetation, and they subsequently learnt from 
Manteo, the Indian who had visited England, that 
the little garrison of white men had been treacherously 
attacked and most of them murdered, the rest being 
carried into the interior. The Indians on the coast 



88 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

had now grown suspicious of the white men, and 
stood aloof. To conciliate them, Manteo was 
solemnly baptised and made lord of Roanoak ; forts 
and houses were again erected, stores landed, and 
the little colony once more established. But the 
work of clearing and planting had all to be begun 
over again, and it was clear that before crops could 
be produced the stores would be exhausted. The 
colonists thereupon prayed Governor White himself to 
return to England in the ships, in order to obtain fresh 
supplies for them. His daughter, Eleanor Dare, had 
just given birth to a girl infant, who was christened 
Virginia — the first child of English blood ever born 
in North America — and he hesitated to leave his 
charge and family under such circumstances. After 
some persuasion, he unfortunately consented to do 
so, and arrived in England towards the end of 1587, 
having left in the new colony 89 men, 17 women, 
and 1 1 children. 

When White arrived in England, the world was 
ringing with the pompous preparations of the 
Spaniards for the conquest and domination of 
England. Philip's * leaden foot,' after thirty years 
of hesitancy, had moved at last, and the ' heretic ' 
Queen and her Counsellors were to be crushed for 
once and for all. Drake, Hawkins, Grenville, 
Ralegh and others of the same sort, who knew 
by experience how the English corsairs had terrorised 
the Spaniards at sea, v/ere confident of success, if 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 89 

only Philip's force could be encountered before it 
landed. Ralegh wrote that the ramparts of England 
only consisted of men's bodies, there were few coast for- 
tresses, and that a fleet could travel more quickly than 
an army, and choose its point of attack where the de- 
fender was least prepared. The Spaniard, he urged, 
must be met and fought at sea. Drake thought so 
too, and had in the summer, much to the Queen's 
misgiving, suddonly sailed into Cadiz harbour, burnt 
and sunk all the ships there destined for the Armada, 
and had then quietly sailed out again, without losing a 
man or a boat. If gallant Drake had been allowed to 
have his way, indeed, unhampered by the Queen's 
tricky diplomacy, and by the secret Catjiolic influence 
at Court, he would have madethe Armada impossible 
at this time. He looked into the Tagus, and could 
easily have burnt the unwieldy fleet ; for, as Santa 
Cruz confessed, there were no men or guns on 
board to resist him. As he came home he captured 
one of the richest prizes ever brought into England, 
the great East Indian galleon, San Felipe. Well 
might the mariners be confident, for they knew that 
the very name of Drake paralysed the Spaniards on 
every sea ; but the men ashore were not so confident. 
If Parma and the fierce Spanish infantry, the finest in 
the world, once landed, they -thought it would go 
badly with the hastily raised militia — and they were 
probably right. But the government did its best, 
and from Berv/ick to the Land's End warlike pre- 



90 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

parations went on ceaselessly. As Lord Lieutenant 
of Cornwall and Lord Warden of the Stannaries, as 
well as a member of the Com.mission of National 
Defence, Ralegh was busy in raising men and 
strengthening fortifications ; but his main depend- 
ence was always, and for the rest of his life, upon 
the fleet and the seamen. 

Everything that could arouse hatred and indigna- 
tion against the invader was spread abroad. Ship- 
loads of scourges were being sent to score the backs 
of free Englishman ; all adults, men and women, 
were to be killed ; and thousands of Spanish wet- 
nurses were coming to suckle the orphaned infants. 
Nonsense of this sort ran from mouth to mouth and was 
implicitly believed ; and the English people by the spring 
of 1588 had been raised to frenzy. There was no 
longer any room for doubt as to Philip's intentions. 
Mary Stuart's death had deprived him of the stalk- 
ing horse behind which he had worked, and he meant 
to assert his own claim by descent to the crown of 
England, and make his daughter Oueen in his stead. 

For years the English exiles in his pay — the Jesuits 
and fanatics who swarmed in Flanders, France, Italy 
and Spain — had been egging him on to this. The 
English, they said, would have no beggarly Scot to 
rule over them. England was rich, powerful and 
Catholic at heart, and would welcome the Spaniard 
with open arms, to save them from the Frenchified 
Scotsmen, who would swarm like locusts over the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 91 

border. Philip had been told this so often, and so 
long, that he had got to believe it ; and at last, even the 
Pope and the French understood that the conquest of 
England by Philip would mean a Spanish domination of 
Europe. In both cases Philip's diplomacy had cunningly 
managed to gag them, and they could only look on im- 
potently in doubt and disapproval. But tht English 
it touched more nearly. The Peace Commissioners, 
it is true, were still sitting at Ostend ; and the frugal 
Queen had ordered her own warships to be dismantled 
and paid off. But everyone in England knew that 
war was inevitable, and whatever the Queen might do 
with her ships, the privateers and armed corsairs kept 
theirs ready for action, for the men on board were 
panting to fight a foe they knew they could beat. 

When the land militia were called out, nominally 
100,000 of them, though only a third of that number 
were armed or drilled, Ralegh was commissioned to 
raise 2000 men in the west country. He had hardly 
set about it when the peace negotiations in Flanders 
seemed to hold out hopes of success, and the prepara- 
tions were suspended. Early in the spring of 1588, 
he went to his estate in Ireland, and served the office 
of Mayor of Youghal for that year. On the approach 
of the Armada, he hurried into the west country again. 
He was a member of the special commission for the 
defence of the country against invasion, and had some 
time before taken a leading part in the construction 
of the new fortifications of Portsmouth. He now set 



92 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

about raising and arming the west country levies, for 
which he was responsible, and strengthening the de- 
fences of the island of Portland. 

On Saturday, July 20th, 1588, the 'most fortunate' 
Armada was collected off the Lizard ; and at three 
o'clock in the afternoon first sighted some of Howard's 
ships. The next morning the two fleets were face to 
face, but the superior qualities of the craft and men 
of the English had given them the wind ; and thence- 
forward for a week the great galleons, as they sailed 
up the Channel, were * pestered by the devilish folk,' 
who hung upon the flanks and rear — the horns of the 
great half- moon, in which the affrighted Spaniards sailed. 
What was the use of bravery ? Of what service were 
great towering hulls and mighty armaments ; of the 
thousands of harquebussiers crowding the decks ? 
They could not get near their foe to board him ; for 
the privateers who had carried their lives in their 
hands for twenty years had been spurred by necessity 
to invent ships that could sail round the Spaniards, 
and beat them piecemeal as they did, until dismay and 
panic turned the great Armada into a hustling mob, 
with a hostile fleet, fit and confident, to windward, 
and a shoally coast to lee ; and thus the sceptre of the 
sea passed from Spain to England. 

Ralegh's biographers, one and all, assert that he 
went on board Howard's fleet on the 23d July with 
other gentlemen volunteers, and witnessed the rest ot 
the fighting in the Channel. This is just possible, but 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 93 

no more. Not the slightest reference to his presence 
appears in any of the official correspondence, and in 
any case he had no command and cannot have taken 
an active part. Whether he was a spectator or not, 
he thoroughly agreed vi^ith the successful tactics 
pursued by Howard and Drake. The Council sent 
Richard Drake to ask the Lord Admiral how it was 
that the Spanish ships had not been boarded, and 
Ralegh evidently refers to this question in his remarks 
in the History of the World. 'Certainly,' he says, 
* he that will happily perform a fight at sea must 
believe that there is more belonging to a good man 
of war upon the waters than great daring, and must 
know that there is a great deal of difference between 
fighting loose or at large, and grappling. To clap 
ships together without consideration belongs rather 
to a madman than to a man of war ; for by such an 
ignorant bravery was Peter Strozzi lost at the Azores 
when he fought against the Marquis of Santa Cruz. 
In like sort had Lord Charles Howard, Admiral of 
England, been lost in the year 1588, if he had not 
been better advised than a great many malignant 
fools were that found fault with his demeanour. The 
Spaniards had an army aboard them, and he had none ; 
they had more ships than he had, and of higher build- 
ing and charging ; so that had he entangled himself 
with those great and powerful vessels, he had greatly 
endangered this kingdom of England. For twenty 
men upon the defences are equal to a hundred that 



94 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

board and enter ; whereas then the Spaniards, contrari- 
wise, had a hundred for twenty of ours to defend 
themselves withal. But our admiral knew his ad- 
vantage and held it ; which had he not done he had 
not been worthy to have held his head.' 

It is to be remembered, that what was acknow- 
ledged to be the best ship in the English fleet, the 
Lord Admiral's flagship the Ark-Ralegh^ had been 
built by Ralegh on his own plan. It had been 
launched the previous year, 1587, and had been sold 
to the Queen for ^5000 before it left the stocks. 
The Roebuck also, which Cecil specially praises as a 
fine ship, was owned and built by Ralegh, and the 
gzW^-nt Revenge^ Drake's flagship, had been partly owned 
by him. During the troublous time of preparation to 
resist the Armada, all ships on the English coast were 
requisitioned for the royal service, and forbidden to leave 
port. Grenville was fitting out a large expedition for 
the Virginia colony, at Bideford, when^ie was stopped. 
With difliculty Ralegh obtained a release for two ships 
bound for the West Indies, on condition of their 
taking colonists and stores to Virginia. The masters 
took advantage of the release to sail, but with few 
stores or settlers, and went on a plundering expedition. 
Off Madeira they were assailed by French pirates and 
plundered, whereupon, with Governor White on 
board, they returned to England, and the colonists for 
a time were left to their fate. Much ungenerous and 
vmthinking odium has been cast upon Ralegh for his 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 95 

supposed indifference to these unfortunate people, and 
Southey. is particularly severe upon him for it. 
Ralegh had by this time spent ^40,000 on the 
venture, representing in spending powder at least four 
times that amount in the present day, and, as Hakluyt 
says in a dedication to him at the time, ' it would have 
required a prince's purse to have followed it out.' 
Great as his resources had been, he had well-nigh 
exhausted them. The ' mere adventurers,' as Hakluyt 
calls them, did not partake of his far-seeing patriotic 
views as to the permanent value of an agricultural 
country to be colonised by Englishmen. As soon as 
they understood that there were no gold mines, their 
enthusiasm cooled, and no money was forthcoming. 
Indeed, from their point of view, thp speculation was 
much less promising than plundering Spaniards or 
finding an easy way to the rich commodities of the 
East. As a matter pf fact, Ralegh for the rest of his 
life never ceased in his endeavours to reach the settlers 
he had sent out, although after 1589 his own personal 
responsibility was a moral one only. In that year he 
gave to a company, formed for the purpose, the right 
to trade in the colony, and kept for himself only the 
fifth of the precious metals, and the chief rents of the 
land ; and in pursuance of this transfer. White again 
started in August 1589 to relieve the settlers. This 
time he arrived at Roanoak, and found the colony had 
been transferred to the island of Croatan, 60 miles 
further south. White and his expedition set sail for 



96 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

the place, but were caught in a storm, and once more 
driven back to England without reaching the settlers. 
Thenceforward the company made no further attempt 
to relieve them, nor did the Queen help in any way, 
although the plan from the first had been carried out in 
the interests of the country, and not in those of the patri- 
otic projector. At his own cost Ralegh subsequently 
sent at least five expeditions to discover the fate of his 
people, but always without success. It was afterwards 
learnt that the whole of them had been murdered by 
the Chief Powattan, and it was twenty years longer 
before a permanent settlement of Englishmen was 
fixed on the northern continent. But no subsequent 
events can take away the glory from Ralegh of having 
by his patriotism and example secured for the occupa- 
tion of the English-speaking race the great continent 
which now can never be alienated from it, come what 
may. In the dedication to him by Hakluyt of a 
narrative of French voyages to Florida, his really 
patriotic objects are fully recognised. * Touching the 
speedy and effectual pursuing of your action, I am of 
opinion that you shall draw the same before long to 
be profitable and gainful, as well to those of our nation 
there remaining as to the merchants of England that 
shall trade hereafter thither, partly by certain secret 
commodities already discovered by your servants, and 
partly by breeding of divers sorts of beasts in those 
large and ample regions, and planting such things in 
that warm climate as will best prosper there, and our 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 97 

realm standeth most in need of. Moreover, there is 
no other likelihood but that Her Majesty, who hath 
christened and given the name to your Virginia, if 
need require, will deal after the manner of honourable 
godmothers, which, seeing their gossips not fully able 
to bring up their children themselves, are wont to 
contribute to their honest education, the rather if they 
find any towardliness or reasonable hopes of goodness 
in them/ But the Virgin Oueen was not a god- 
mother of that description, and Ralegh's colony got 
no help from her. Ralegh himself never lost hope or 
faith. ' I shall yet live,' he wrote, shortly before his 
ruin — ' I shall yet live to see it an English nation.' 
And so he did, but he was in the Tower a prisoner. 
In the meanwhile he had by his enterprise endowed 
his country with vegetable products from abroad, 
which others had seen and described, but which he 
alone had utilised. He had impressed upon his fellow- 
countrymen the indignation which he felt at the 
arrogant assumption of the Spaniards to the exclusive 
possession of the western world, by virtue of a papal 
bull ; he had demonstrated that limitless regions of 
fertile land, with untold natural wealth, were awaiting 
the benefits of civilisation and Christianity ; he had 
sown the seed of English colonial enterprise, and 
others were to reap the harvest. 



CHAPTER VI 

EXPEDITION TO LISBON EDMUND SPENSER AND THE 

FAERIE QUEEN RALEGH AS A POET — PROSE 

WRITINGS 

Adventure was in the air. The dramatic and com- 
plete catastrophe of the much-vaunted Armada made 
Enghshmen more than ever confident that at sea 
henceforward they were to be paramount. The 
thirst for plunder spread, and citizens of all classes 
became eager to participate in the rapid gains of 
adventures against foes whom they had begun to 
despise. As a thorn in the side of Philip, both 
Elizabeth and Catharine de Medici in turn had 
entertained and encouraged Don Antonio, a pre- 
tender to the Portuguese crown, which Philip had 
assumed. From Elizabeth Antonio had hitherto got 
little but fine words, but the French Queen Mother 
had aided to fit out two disastrous naval expeditions 
to the Azores. By 1589 most of his jewels — the 
crown jewels of Portugal — had been pledged or 

98 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 99 

wheedled away from him, but he still had what is 
now called the Sancy diamond, and this he pledged, 
and came again to England. With Elizabeth's aid 
and countenance a joint stock company was formed 
to invade Portugal in Don Antonio's interest ; he 
was sure, poor sanguine man, that his countrymen 
would acclaim him king the moment he set foot on 
shore ; and he promised, if he were successful, not 
only to reimburse all the cost of the expedition, but 
to make Portugal almost a tributary of England, 
and above all to deliver the Spanish belongings in 
Lisbon to the sack of the men of the expedition. 
England was excited for revenge and loot, and 
ruffians, high and low, half the idlers of the Court, 
the sweepings of the streets, and the scum of the 
jails, flocked to take part in what was represented 
as being a pleasant excursion on summer seas to a 
paradise of plunder. 

An army of 16,000 soldiers, with 2500 sailors was 
raised ; and after much vexatious delay and disappoint- 
ment, the expedition of nearly 200 sail was ready in 
the middle of April. The chief command of the 
land forces was held by Sir John Norris, and Drake 
commanded at sea. Ralegh was one of the con- 
tributors to the adventure, and accompanied the 
expedition ; but the Queen had peremptorily refused 
the Earl of Essex permission to join. In the previous 
autumn there had been a squabble between him and 
Ralegh, which had led to a challenge, and the inter- 



loo BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

vention of the Privy Council to prevent hostilities. 
Jealous, doubtless, that Ralegh should take part in 
the enterprise whilst he was dangling at the skirts 
of the imperious old lady v^^hom he alone dared to 
treat insolently, Essex escaped from Court, rushed in 
disguise to Plymouth, and got on board the Swi/isure, 
in which the chief officer was Sir Roger Williams, 
the general second in command of the army. Before 
his pursuers could catch him, the Swi/isure, without 
Drake's orders, put to sea. The Oueen was frantic 
with rage, swore that Drake and Norris were privy 
to the favourite's escape, and thenceforward she had 
nothing but hard words and sour looks for the expedi- 
tion. Sir Roger Williams especially was threatened 
with instant death on his return — a threat, by the 
way, of which he took very little notice. The 
Swiftsure joined the fleet after the latter had wasted 
ten days at Corunna, sacking, burning and plunder- 
ing, but neglecting the main object of the expedition. 
When they reached Peniche, Drake, true to his 
invariable policy of tackling the Spaniards on the 
water, was for forcing the entrance of the Tagus 
and sailing up in front of the city. In this he was 
supported by Ralegh, and if the plan had been 
adopted the result of the enterprise would probably 
have been very different from what it was. But 
Don Antonio, Norris and Essex, who were no sea- 
men, were for marching over land to Lisbon and 
besieging it. They had no siege guns or para- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH loi 

phernalia, no proper marching gear, no commissariat, 
and no medical staff, but Antonio was so confident 
that Lisbon would open its gates to him, that Drake 
was overborne ; and foolish Essex had his way. It 
happens that all the historians of the unfortunate 
expedition were with Norris's force, so that we have 
no details of Drake's movements, except that he went 
with the fleet to the mouth of the river at Cascaes 
to await the return of and re-embark the army. 
No mention whatever is made of Ralegh, but it is 
certain that he did not go with Norris and Essex 
on their wild-goose chase. He and Drake were 
better employed. During the six days they had 
awaited Norris off Cascaes they had scoured the seas 
for miles around in search of prizes, and captured 
40 German hulks loaded with goods for the 
Spaniards. Some of these, and the many other 
prizes taken, had to be abandoned for want of 
men ; for drink, disease and desertion had reduced 
the English force to about a quarter of its original 
number ; others were surreptitiously run into remote 
ports of England and Ireland, and the proceeds of 
them appropriated by their crews, so that the booty to 
be divided fairly amongst the adventurers was trifling. 
In one of Ralegh's prizes, some of Williams's men had 
been placed to escort it to England, and turbulent Sir 
Roger, who, henchman of Essex as he was, hated 
Ralegh, claimed the whole value of the prize, which, 
he said, but for his men, could not have been brought 



102 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

to England. His claim was disallowed, for the Queen 
was still in a violent rage with him, and Essex had not 
yet dared to return to Court. Ralegh, on the con- 
trary, who had had no share in the failure, was 
welcomed, and received a gold chain as a new token 
of the Queen's regard. Williams thereupon addressed 
an insolent letter to the Council, saying that he de- 
served a chain as well as his fellows. He was pro- 
bably unaware that only a few weeks before the 
Queen had peremptorily ordered Drake and Norris 
to give him a halter. 

Before many weeks were over, however, Essex was 
taken into favour again, and soon made the Court too 
warm for Ralegh. 'My Lord of Essex hath chased 
Mr Ralegh from Court, and hath confined him to 
Ireland ' wrote Anthony Bacon's friend, Allen, in 
August, though it must be remembered that both of 
them belonged to Essex's party, and would be glad to 
exaggerate his influence. Ralegh himself appears to 
have heard some such gossip, for he wrote, after his 
return to London in December 1589, to his cousin 
George Carew, ' For my retrait from Court, it was 
uppon good cause to take order for my prize.' He 
had other reasons for leaving Court. His great Irish 
estates were causing him endless worry. With 
characteristic energy, he was deep in experimental 
planting, mining, draining, and disforesting ; he was 
splendidly rebuilding Lismore Castle, and was full of 
schemes for improving his property. But Fitzwilliams, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 103 

the Viceroy, was apparently his enemy, and favoured 
squatters and claimants upon his lands, and generally 
hampered him. His reference to Fitzwilliams in the 
letter just quoted to Carew (who was then Master of 
the Ordnance in Ireland) is interesting as showing 
how his proud spirit chafed at the suggestion that he 
was a disgraced favourite. ' If in Irlande they thincke 
that I am not worth respectinge they shall mich 
deceave them sealvs. I am in place to be beleved not 
inferrior to any man, to pleasure or displeasure the 
greatest, and my oppinion is so receaved and beleved 
as I can anger the best of them. And therfore if the 
Deputy (/.^., Fitzwilliams) be not as reddy to steed 
me as I have bynn to defend hyme — be it as it 
may. 

' When Sir William Fitzwilliams shalbe in Ingland, 
I take my sealf farr his better by the honorable offices 
I hold, as also by that nireness to Her Majestye which 
still I enjoy, and never more. I am willing to con- 
tinue towards hyme all frindly offices, and I doubt not 
of the like from hyme as well towards mee as my 
frinds.' 

This letter must have been written from London 
after his visit to Ireland and his short retirement from 
Court. He was now sure that his transient disgrace 
with the Queen had passed, for he had with him a 
new suppliant for her favour. * When will you cease 
to be a beggar ? ' she asked him once. ' When your 
gracious Majesty ceases to be a benefactor,' was his 



I04 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

courtly reply. He was, in fact, never tired of playing 
the patron and friend of those who sought Court 
favour. In the spirit of the times in many cases he 
took care to be handsomely paid ; but where poets 
and men of letters were concerned, his disinterested- 
ness and generosity knew no bounds. Himself one 
of the noblest of Elizabethan courtly singers, rivalling 
Sidney, even approaching Shakespeare in his sonnets, 
perhaps the greatest service he rendered to English 
poetry was in snatching from obscurity the poet 
Spenser, and promoting the publication of the Faerie 
^ueen. It was on the visit to Ireland in the autumn 
of 1589 that he renewed his acquaintance with him. 
In the rough days of the Desmond rebellion, when 
the masterful Captain Ralegh was sweeping the rebels 
from Cork by fire and sword, Edmund Spenser had 
been the secretary to the Viceroy, Lord Grey, with 
whom Ralegh had so many passages of arms. The 
two young men must have known each other then, 
for Ralegh had already written poetry whilst he was 
at the Temple, and Spenser had published verse ; but 
their lives had thenceforward lain in different places. 
Spenser had received the estate of Kilcolman, part of 
the Desmond forfeitures, and occupied an official post 
he had purchased in Cork ; and on Ralegh's flying 
visit to Ireland in 1589 they met. What happened 
at the meeting and afterwards, Spenser himself related, 
when he returned to Kilcolman in 1591, in his poem 
dedicated to Ralegh, called Colin Clout's come Hotne 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 105 

again. He tells how the ' Strange Shepherd ' found 
him 

' Keeping my sheep among the cooly shade. 
Of the green alders by the Mull a s shored 

and how without envy the two poets compared their 
songs. Ralegh's contribution to the conversation 
seems to have been a plaint, — 

' V S'^^^ unkindness and of usage hard. 
Of Cynthia, the Lady of the Sea, 
Which from her presence faultless him debarred. 
And ever and anon ivith singulfs rife 
He cried out to make his undersong ; 
Ah ! my love's Queen, and goddess of my life. 
Who shall pity me tvhen thou do'st me -wrong ? ' 

Much as Ralegh might complain, of the unkindness 
of ' Great Cynthia,' he was confident, as we have seen 
by his letter to Carew, of his ability to soften her 
heart ; and he persuaded Spenser to accompany him 
to Court and present his poem to the Queen. The 
commencement of the work had been encouraged by 
Sir Philip Sidney ; it was published by the advice of 
Sir Walter Ralegh. With the Queen's patronage 
the first three ' books ' were issued soon after the poet's 
appearance at Court, and by Ralegh's counsel they 
were accompanied by an explanatory exposition of the 
meaning of the allegory. This took the form of a 
letter printed as an appendix, and addressed to the 
' Right noble and valorous Sir Walter Ralegh,' in 
which the poet's obligations to the favourite were 



io6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

gratefully acknowledged. A pension of _^50 a year 
was bestowed upon Spenser, which probably was 
sometimes paid to him, nothwithstanding Lord 
Treasurer Burghley's demur at ' all this for a song ? ' 
and the poet went back to ' MuUa's shore,' to con- 
tinue his immortal work, a much more important 
person than when the ' Shepherd of the ocean ' first 
found him there. Kilcolman, however, was not much 
more advantageous to Spenser than Lismore was to 
Ralegh. Disappointment and discouragement came 
to both the ' undertakers,' though Ralegh fortunately 
sold his vast domain to Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork, 
in whose hands it prospered exceedingly. Spenser 
clung to Kilcolman until Tyrone's great uprising in 
1598 harried his lands, burnt his home, arid broke his 
heart. 

Of Ralegh's own position as a poet this is not the 
place to speak at any length. In a courtly dilettante 
way he must have written much, and his verse was 
held in high esteem by his contemporaries, though 
apparently he cared little for its preservation ; perhaps 
he almost despised his great poetic gift, for he signed 
hardly anything and printed nothing. He was con- 
tent to receive the applause of the cultured courtiers, 
by whom a turn for amorous verse was looked upon 
as a necessary accomplishment. In the fine sonnet 
addressed to him by Spenser at the end of the 
Faerie ^een, a noble compliment is paid to his 
poetry. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 107 

■ To thee that art the zummer s nightingale. 
Thy So'vereign goddesses most dear delight., 
Why do I send this rustic madrigal., 
That may thy tuneful ears unseason quite ? 
Thou., only jit this argument to ivrite. 
In ivhose high thoughts Pleasure hath built her boiver. 
And dainty love learned sweetly to indite. 
My rhymes., I knoiu, unsavoury and sour 
To taste the streams, that Hie a golden shoiver 
F 1 01V from the fruitful head of thy Love's f raise ; 
Fitter perhaps to thunder martial stoiure, 
IVhenso thee list thy lofty Muse to raise. 
Yet till that thou thy poem will make knoion, 
Let thy fair Cynthia's praises he thus rudely shoivn.' 



The poem to which Spenser refers in the last two 
lines must have been shown or sketched out to him 
when Ralegh saw him in Ireland in 158,9, as more than 
one reference is made to it in Colin Clout. The whole 
of it was thought to be lost, until recent years, when 
a continuation or sequel to it in Ralegh's hand was 
discovered at Hatfield, consisting of over 500 lines. 
The fragment was published entire in Dr Hannah's 
Poems of Sir JValter Ralegh., and it is there assumed 
to have been written shortly after the death of the 
Oueen, to whom, of course, the poem itself must have 
been addressed. Mr Stebbing, on the contrary, 
supposes that the fragment in question was written 
during Ralegh's disgrace between 1592-5, and that 
the references to death in it do not apply to the 
Queen personally, but to her dead love for him. 
With this I am inclined to agree, although it would 
be pleasant to think that Ralegh's regard for his 



io8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

benefactress should have led him to continue to praise 
her in the time of her successor. The following are 
the lines upon which the question turns : — 

' If to the li-ving luere my muse addressed. 
Or did my mind her otvn spirit still inhold ; 
JVere not my li-ving passion so repressed 
As to the dead, the dead did these unfold.' 

Whichever contention may be right, the poem is a 
stately one, but imbued, like all of Ralegh's verse, with 
deep melancholy. With the exception of a few lighter 
verses, the whole of his poems appear to have been 
written at periods of disappointment and despondency, 
as if it were only in depression that his mind was 
diverted from action. Like many sanguine men, 
Ralegh must have been easily — though perhaps 
momentarily— reduced to hopeless misery by failure. 
Some of his poems of discontent, which do not breathe 
despair and longing for release by death, are full of 
almost savage resentment, as in the case of The Lie. 

' Go, Soul, the body's guest, 
Upon a thankless arrant ; 
Fear not to touch the best ,■ 
The truth shall be thy ivarrant : 
Go, since I needs must die, 
And gi've the ivorld the lie. 

' Say to the court it gloivs 
And shines like rotten ivood ; 
Say to the church it shoivs 
What's good, and doth no good : 
If church and court reply. 
Then giiie them both the lie. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 109 

' Tell potentates they li-ve 
Acting by others^ action ; 
Not lo-ved unless they gi-ve. 
Not strong hut by a faction : 
If potentates reply, 
Gi-ve potentates the lie. 

' Tell men of high condition. 
That manage the Estate, 
Their purpose is ambition, 
Their practice only hate : 
And if they once reply. 
Then give them all the lie. 

Tell them that brave it most ; 
They beg for more by spending. 
Who in their greatest cost 
Seek nothing but commending : 
And if they make reply. 
Then give them all the lie. ^ 

Tell zeal it wants devotion ,- 
Tell love it is but lust ; 
Tell time it is but motion ; 
Tellfesh it is but dust : 
And wish them not reply. 
For thou must give the lie. 

Tell age it daily wastcth ; 
Tell honour hotv it alters ; 
Tell beauty how she blast eth ; 
Tell favour hotv it falters : 
And as they sliall reply. 
Give every one the lie. 

' Tell wit how much it wrangles 
In tickle points of niceness ; 
Tell wisdom she entangles 
Herself in over-wiseness : 
And when they do reply, 
Straight give them both the lie. 



no BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

' Tell physic of her boldness ; 
Tell skill it is pretension ; 
Tell charity of coldness ; 
Tell laiv it is contention : 
And as they do reply. 
So gi-ve them still the lie. 

' Tell fortune oj" her blindness j 
Tell nature of decay ,• 
Tell friendship of unkindness ; 
Tell justice of delay : 
And if they will reply. 
Then give thetn all the lie. 

' Tell arts they ha-ve no soundness. 
But -vary by esteeming ; 
Tell schools they ivant profoundness, 
And stand too much on seeming : 
If arts and schools reply, 
Gi-ve arts and schools the lie. 

' Tell faith it' s fed the city ; 
Tell hoiv the country erreth ,- 
Tell manhood shakes off pity j 
Tell -virtue least pref erreth ; 
And if they do reply. 
Spare not to gi-ve the lie. ^ 

' So ivhen thou hast, as I 
Commanded thee, done blabbing— ' 
Although to gi-ve the lie 
Deser-vcs no less than stabbing — 
Stab at thee he that will, 
No stab the soul can kill.' 

No wonder that a man full of such bitter thoughts 
and words as these — a man, moreover, arrogant, im- 
patient and proud — was cordially detested by the 
courtiers over whom he trampled roughshod, and by 
the people whom he never condescended to concili- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH iii 

ate — excepting always his own Devon and Cornish 
men, who knew and loved him ; and this very 
poem of The Lie brought many retorts from the 
author's enemies in similar metre. An extract of 
two stanzas from one of them will show the feeling 
against him. 

' The Court hath settled sureness 
In baniihiug such boldness ; 
The Church retains her purcness, 
Though Atheists shotv their coldness ; 
The Court and Church, though base, 
Turn lies into thy face. 

' The potentates reply. 
Thou base, by thcmad-vanced, 
Sinisterly soarest high, 
And at their actions glanced ; 
They for this thankless part 
Turn lies into thy heart_2 

The accusation of Atheism against Ralegh, and 
also especially against his protege Hariot, was per- 
sisted in during the whole of his life, but, so far as 
Ralegh is concerned, there does not seem a tittle 
of evidence to support it ; the whole of his writings, 
especially towards the end of his life, breathing the 
sincerest devotion. 

The following poem called The Excuse is a good 
specimen of Ralegh's lighter verse. 

^Calling to mind my eyes ivent long about. 
To cause my heart for to forsake my breast ; 
All in a rage I sought to pull them out ; 
As luho had been such traitors to my rest : 
J-Vhat could they say to ivin again my grace ? 
Forsooth that they had seen my mistress's face. 



112 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

' Another time my heart / called to mind. 
Thinking that he this ivoe on me had brought 
Because that he, to lo-ve, his force resigned 
IVhen of such ivars my fancy never thought : 
What could he say ivhen I ivould him have slain ? 
That he was hers — and had forgone my chain, 

^ At last ivhen I perceived both eyes and heart 
Excuse themselves as guiltless of my ill, 
I found myself the cause of all my smart. 
And told myself that I myself ivould kill : 
Tet ivhen I saiv myself to you was true, 
I loved myself because myself loved you.' 

His reply to Spenser's address to him in the Faerie 
^eefij quoted above, is extremely dignified, and will 
compare with the finest sonnets in the language. 

' Mcthought I saiv the grave ivhcre Laura lay, 
fVithin that temple ivhere the vestal flame 
Was ivont to burn ; and passing by that ivay 
To see that buried dust of living fame. 
Whose tomb fair love and fairer virtue kept, 
All suddenly I saiv the Faerie i^cen. 
At ivhose approach the soul of Petrarch ivept ; 
And from thenceforth those graces uuerenot seen. 
For they this ^luecn attended ; in ivhose stead 
Oblivion laid him doivn on Laura s hearse, 
Hereat the hardest stones ivere seen to bleed. 
And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce ,• 
Where Homer'' s sprite did tremble all for grief 
And cursed the ascess of that celestial thief 

Nothing of Ralegh's verse has remained imprinted 
on the mind of posterity ; hardly a word of his 
poetry has become blended into the common English 
speech and is unconsciously used, as is the case with 
certain expressions of Spenser, Sidney, and, above all. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 113 

the great Elizabethan dramatists, but curiously enough 
the rhyme of Ralegh's which is best known is a couplet 
contained in what were probably almost the first verses 
he wrote. They are three commendatory stanzas, 
prefixed to a satirical poem by his Temple fi-iend 
Gascoigne, called The Steele G/ass, published in 1576. 
The middle stanza is as follows, and the last couplet 
is not infrequently quoted without any knowledge of 
its origin. 

' Though sundry minds in sundry sorts do deem. 
Yet ivorthicst ivights yield praise to every pain : 
But envious brains do nought, or light esteem. 
Such stately steps as they cannot attain : 
For ivho so reaps renoivn aho-ve the rest, 
JVith heaps of hate shall surely be oppressed.'' 

This must have been written before Ralegh was 
twenty-four, when he was quite unknown ; and yet it 
is extraordinarily prophetic of the hatred and unpopu- 
larity which his own eminence brought upon him. 

Ralegh, doubtless, looked upon his poetic gift mainly 
as a solace in moments of disappointment, or as a 
means of venting his dissatisfaction, but his deeper 
studies must have been much nearer his heart ; 
although, with the exception of his great and really 
extraordinary History of the World and an account by 
him in Hakluyt of the loss of the Revenge^ none of his 
prose writings were avowedly published during his life, 
many profound and advanced treatises have been given 
to the world since, and prove him to have been in 

H 



114 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

most things far in advance of his age. In his Select 
Observations on Trade and Co?nmercey he anticipates 
nearly all the arguments of free traders ; in his 
Prerogative of Parliaments he demonstrates, far in ad- 
vance of his contemporaries,that the pow^er of the Crown 
is strengthened by the maintenance of the privileges of 
the House of Commons ; his writings on the con- 
struction of ships, and naval tactics, addressed to 
Prince Henry, anticipate many of the conclusions 
arrived at by scientific sailors of our own times, and 
his political Maxirns of State^ written whilst he was a 
prisoner, are full of far-seeing wisdom, and show how 
unquenchable was still his ambition to direct affairs 
and men, even from the Tower. This arrogant desire 
to take the management of everything and every- 
body was, through his life, the principal cause of his 
unpopularity. Few men care for another person 
calmly to assume, as of right, to take the direction 
of their affairs out of their hands, aiul this was what 
Ralegh invariably did in all matters with which he 
was concerned. 

Some of his writings have been lost ; amongst them 
a Life of ^ueen Elizabeth ; and several treatises pub- 
lished under his name are almost certainly by other 
hands; but the undoubted works of his that remain 
are sufficient in themselves to establish Ralegh's posi- 
tion as one of the greatest literary geniuses that 
England ever possessed ; and this, be it recollected, 
was a man who was essentially a man of action, who 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 115 

used his literary gifts not for themselves, but for other 
ends, to advocate policies or actions, or to prove con- 
tentions, not for the sake of literary form. There 
was, indeed, never a man less vain of literary eminence 
than he ; so long as his writings produced the effect 
he desired, he cared nothing, what became of them. 

Of the History of the World I shall speak elsewhere, 
when treating of his life in the Tower, but the vast 
project of the work, in a literary sense one of the 
greatest ever conceived, proves the indomitable energy 
of the man and his confidence in his extraordinary 
powers. Even in a book of this character — treating 
of far distant times — his intense interest in current 
affairs, and his desire to influence therri, are manifest 
upon almost every page, where apposite illustrations 
from his own life, or modern instances gathered from 
his own observation, supply the principal value of the 
book to modern readers. 

His benefactions to, and support of, literary men were 
endless. Hakluyt acknowledges gratefully the infor- 
mation, as well as the material aid, he obtained from 
him. He defrayed the cost of publication of coloured 
illustrations of Florida scenery painted by the PVench 
artist Jacques de Morgues ; Laudonniere's narrative of 
the disastrous French attempts to colonise that region 
was dedicated to him, both in French and English. 
He bought for ^60 the manuscript of Estevao de 
Gama's voyage to the Red Sea in 1541, and every 
Spanish book which could be obtained telling of the 



ii6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

continent of the west, was eagerly purchased and avidly 
read by him. But through all his ceaseless activities, 
a speculator with shares in every venture, a shipowner 
with privateers scouring every sea, an active member 
of parliament, an assiduous courtier, a patient student, 
a voluminous writer, a great reforming landowner, 
chemist, engineer, statesman, official, and much else, 
like a golden vein there ran the determination that 
his country should oppose the arrogant assumption by 
Spain of the unchallenged domxination of the new 
world. He knew by this time that the haughty claim 
was based upon an insecure foundation ; that without 
the empire of the sea, the empire of the lands across 
the sea was untenable. He and his kinsmen had 
proved — if any proof beyond the Armada were needed 
— that English ships and English seamen were far 
more than a match for the Spaniards. Hollow pride 
should be met by pride as haughty but better 
founded. The Spaniard's loudly proclaimed dominion 
of the western world must be challenged, and the 
challenger must be England. This was the master 
motive of Ralegh's busy life through soorm and sun- 
shine ; and however devious were the courses by which 
he sought to reach it, his goal was immoveable, and 
he held it unto martyrdom. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE FIGHT OF THE ' REVENGE ' RALEGlfs PRIVA- 
TEERING EXPEDITION HIS DISGRACE AND IM- 
PRISONMENT THE GREAT CARRACK RALEGH 

AS A PARLIAMENT MAN 

On Ralegh's arrival in Court with Spenser early in 
1590, he was received once more into his mistress's 
good graces, and shortly afterwards the avowal of his 
rival Essex's marriage with the v/idow of Philip Sidney 
raised Ralegh again to his position of chief favourite. 
The Queen did not fall into ungovernable rage as she 
did upon Leicester's marriage with Essex's mother, but 
she insulted the bride, and pursued her with a spite 
and venom almost incredible, except by those who 
have studied closely the strange blending of grandeur 
and meanness in Elizabeth's character. During the 
short time of Essex's disgrace, and the longer period in 
the ensuing year 1591, v/hen he was in France com- 
manding the English contingent in aid of Henry IV. 
against Spain, Ralegh was all powerful with the Queen, 

117 



ii8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

and when in the spring of 1591 it was determined to 

send an expedition to the Azores to intercept Philip's 

silver fleet from the west, he secured the appointment 

of Vice-Admiral. It was an enterprise which would, 

if successful, bring a great profit, and to this Ralegh 

was never indifferent. The supreme command was 

to be given to Lord Thomas Howard, and the 

squadron consisted of five of the Queen's ships, 

five cargo ships belonging to London, the Bork- 

Raleghy and two or three pinnaces. But after all 

Elizabeth could not spare Ralegh ; Essex was away 

in France, and Hatton was dying ; and it was hard 

to have none of the courtier lovers by her ; so his 

appointment as Vice-Admiral was cancelled, and his 

cousin Sir Richard Grenville appointed in his stead, 

doubtless to Sir Walter's discontent. The squadron 

left England in the early spring, but the silver fleet 

that year was late. It had encountered heavy storms 

in the Gulf of Mexico, and other mishaps on the 

American coast, and Howard's fleet lingered on the 

look out for it all the summer and autumn. This 

gave time for Philip to send a powerful escort to bring 

the silver fleet into Seville, and on the loth September 

(N.S.) Captain Middleton, who had been cruising on 

the look out, came to the English fleet which was 

at anchor off" Flores with the news that Don Alonso 

de Bazan — Santa Cruz's brother — was in the offing 

with two squadrons of 53 ships. The English 

fleet was in bad order with its long waiting. Great 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 119 

numbers of the men were down with scurvy and 
fever, the ships were crank for want of ballast, and 
many of the crews were ashore securing water. So 
short of men were they, that the Bonaventure^ one 
of the large ships, had not sufficient hands to work 
her, and a smaller vessel had to be burnt and the 
crew put on -board the Bonaventure. The Spanish 
fleet was fresh, and enormously superior in strength, 
and Lord Thomas gave the word for the English to 
get away. So rapidly did the Spaniards come up that 
some of the English ships had not time to weigh 
anchor, but had to slip their cables and run. Sir 
Richard Grenville in the Revenge stood by the 
longest, to take off the men vvho had gone ashore; 
so that whilst the other ships all recovered the wind, 
and stood off, he found himself jammed between the 
shore and the Spanish fleet on his weather bow. He 
still might escape if he set his mainsail, cast about 
briskly, and showed a clean pair of heels to the foe. 
His sailing-master advised him to take this course. 
' No,' said Sir Richard, ' I would rather die than 
dishonour myself, my country, and Her Majesty's 
ship, by flying from Spaniards. I will force my 
way through both squadrons of them.' Then began 
that famous fight that great poets have sung and 
great historians related, a fight that still stands forth 
as one of the most splendid in the glorious annals of 
the British navy. No prose story of it is more vivid 
than that written by Ralegh himself soon after the 



120 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

event. As the undaunted Revenge scornfully sailed 
on, the foremost ships of the Spanish fleet, surprised, 
perchance, at the audacity of the act, gave way, luffed, 
and fell astern of the English ship. But the giant 
San Felipe^ of 1500 tons burden, one of the biggest 
galleons afloat, came looming up to windward, her 
towering hull all carved and gilded, and her spreading 
sails becalming the little Revenge — she was only 500 
tons burden — which now lay like a helpless log in the 
trough of the sea. Then four other great galleons 
closed around her, two to port and two to star- 
board, and the Revenge was hemmed in ; whilst 
all the navy of Spain stood by in case of need. 
Grenville was short handed ; 90 of his men lay 
sick and helpless below ; he had no regular fighting 
men on board, whilst the Spanish ships were crowded 
with trained soldiers. The tactics of the Spaniards 
had always been to grapple and board their opponents, 
whilst the policy of the English was to fire low into 
the hulls of their enemies and disable them. The 
Revenge adopted this course as usual, and at three 
o'clock in the afternoon sent a broadside of bar-shot 
from her lowest row of ports crashing into the great 
round hull of the San Felipe^ between wind and water. 
The galleon was too high to train her big guns on to 
the hull of the Revenge^ and was fain to sheer out of 
the fight, other ships of lower build taking her place. 
The great galleons closed and grappled, storms of 
musketry swept the decks of the Revenge again and 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 121 

again. Swarming up the sides came Spaniards by the 
hvmdred, only to be hurled headlong back again into 
the sea. Grinding of timbers, booming of great guns, 
patter of harquebusses, rose loud over the shouts of 
command and the sobs of the dying : and still hour 
after hour the unequal fight went on, till the decks 
of the Revenge were all bright and slippery with blood, 
and encumbered by the fallen. Grenville, with blazing 
eyes and grinding teeth, stood upon the poop of his 
ship through it all — some say sorely wounded from the 
first, but in any case there he stood. Once a bold 
little cargo ship, the George Noble of London, hanging 
on the lee of the Revenge^ came near enough to shout 
to Sir Richard that they only awaited his commands 
to take part in the contest. ' Save yourselves,' he 
answered, * and leave me to my fortune.' Through all 
the day, through all the night, the death-struggle 
raged unceasing. As fast as one crowd of boarders 
were beaten back, fresh masses swarmed up the sides, to 
be met and vanquished, steel to steel, by the dwindling 
row of heroes that lined the bulwarks of the Revenge. 
One after the other, the Revenge alone had to cope 
with 15 great men-of-war, and when the ghastly 
dawn came she was a riddled wreck ; her decks a 
shambles, her rigging and spars a hideous ruin over 
her sides, Grenville mortally hurt, and hardly a man 
on board unwoundcd. During the 15 hours fight, 
the Revenge had received 800 cannon shot and had 
sunk by her side two of her great assailants. 



122 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Then, when all was hopeless, no men, no ammuni- 
tion, no serviceable arms. Sir Richard ordered the 
ship to be scuttled and sunk. ' Trust to God,' he 
said to his men, ' and to none else. Lessen not your 
honour now by seeking to prolong your lives by a 
few days or hours.' But most of his men thought 
they had done enough for honour, and knew that the 
Spaniards would be as ready to offer terms as they to 
accept them. So Sir Richard and his master gunner 
were overborne, and with bared heads the generous 
and admiring enemies carried the dying hero on to the 
ships of Spain. All that chivalrous foes could do was 
done by the Spaniards for the brave remnant of the 
crew of the Revenge. ' Do with my body what thou 
wilt,' said Grenville, all helpless now as they carried 
him from the slaughter house on his decks ; and after 
three days he died on board the San Pablo^ his last 
words being in the tongue of the victors, ' Here die I, 
Richard Grenville, with a joyful arui quiet mind, 
having ended my life like a true soldier that has 
fought for his country. Queen, religion and honour.' 
In the fight the Spaniards lost looo men ; and a 
great storm a few days afterwards sunk the Revenge^ 
15 of the Spanish war ships, and as many of the 
Spanish Indiamen, with a total of 10,000 men on 
board, all of whom perished. 

Ralegh's eloquent account of this deed of daring, 
like all of his writings, was evidently written for a 
purpose. It was, indeed, a vigorous protest — in many 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 123 

places violent and unjust — against the ambition of 
Spain. ' How irreligiously they cover their greedy 
and ambitious practices with that veil of piety ; for 
sure I am that there is no kingdom or commonwealth 
in all Europe, but if reformed they invade it for 
religion's sake ; and if it be, as they term. Catholic, 
then they pretend title : as if the kings of Castile were 
the natural heirs of the worlds 

Unfortunate as was the attempt to intercept the 
silver fleet in 1591, it was not entirely fruitless, for 
' a Mr Watt's ship ' brought in some prizes, and a 
letter from Ralegh to Lord Burghley about the division 
of the spoil amongst the 12 adventurers is interesting. 
' All of which amounteth not to the increase of one for 
one, which is a small return. Wee might have gotten 
more to have sent them a-fishinge. I assure your 
Lordship whatsoever is taken, fifty of the hundred 
goes cleare away from the adventurers to the mariners, 
the Lord Admiral, and to the Queene ; the rest being 
but j^ 14,000 or therabout, is a small matter amounge 
twelve adventurers; and of which ^14,000 the set- 
ting out cost us very nire ^8000. This is the very 
trewth, I assure your Lordship before the livinge God, 
as nire as wee can sett downe or gett knowledge of.' 

It will be curious to set forth the actual account 
of these prizes as rendered, showing, as it does, the 
shares received by the respective parties. 'Value of 
merchandise, etc., captured, _^ 3 1,1 50. One third for 
the mariners, ^10,383; for my Lord (Admiral) his 



124 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

tenth, ^^301 5 ; for the Queen's customs, £1600 ; cost 
of bringing the goods, _^i200 = _^i6,i98. Rests unto 
the owners and victuallers to be divided amongst 
twelve, ^14,952.' It will be seen that the business 
of plunder was organised on a thoroughly commercial 
system. 

However the result of the adventure of 1591 may 
have discontented Ralegh, he was determined to 
organise a still bolder enterprise for the following 
spring, and probably his violent diatribe against 
Spain in his account of the Revenge combat was 
intended to stir up feeling in England, and aid the 
procuring capital for the adventure. In this enter- 
prise he himself ventured everything he possessed 
and more, his principal partner being George 
Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. The design, as 
before, was to intercept the silver fleet, and also to 
repeat Drake's famous coup upon Panama. Thirteen 
well found and manned ships were provided by the 
adventurers, and two, the Gar/and and the Foresighty 
by the Queen, and Ralegh was to have chief 
command as Admiral, his Vice-Admiral being Sir John 
Borough. Ralegh busied himself in his preparations, 
but before the time came for him to sail, the Queen 
relented somewhat, and made him promise that as 
soon as the expedition was well out to sea, he would 
hand the chief command to Frobisher, v/hilst he 
returned to England in the Disdain. Frobisher was 
very unpopular with seamen, and Ralegh did not 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 125 

like the idea, for, as he reminded Cecil, he had 
ventured everything he possessed in the enterprise. 
' If I can persuade the cumpanies to follow^ Sir 
Martin Furbresher, I will without fail returne, and 
bringe them but into the sea some fifty or three score 
leagues . . . which to do, Her Majestie many 
tymes with great grace badd me remember, and sent 
me the same message by Will Killigrewe, which, God 
willinge, if I can persuade the cumpanies I meane to 
perform, though I dare not be acknown thereof to 
any creature.' This was written from Chatham on 
the loth March 1592, and already there were 
rumours of an entanglement or marriage between 
the favourite and Elizabeth Throgmorton, one of 
the Oueen's maids of honour. Ralegh's enemies at 
Court were even now whispering that when once his 
foot was on the deck of his ship, he would not come 
back until the Queen's anger was appeased. Cecil 
seems to have hinted to Ralegh that these rumours were 
afloat, for Ralegh, in the same letter as that quoted 
above, continues, ' I mean not to cume away as 
they say I will for fear of a marriage and I know not 
what. If any such thing weare, I would have im- 
parted it unto yoursealf before any man livinge ; and 
therefore I pray believe it not, and I beseich you to 
suppress what you can any such malicious report. 
For I protest before God, ther is none on the face of 
the yearth that I would be fastened unto.' Westerly 
winds held him in port whilst he grew more and 



126 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

more despondent. ' More grieved than ever I was 
in anything of this world for this cross weather.' 
By the end of May, however, he put to seat, but he 
had hardly set sail before Frobisher followed him with 
orders for him to return immediately to Court. 
Ralegh's heart was set upon the adventure in which 
his whole fortune was embarked. He had sworn 
positively — and falsely — that there was no truth in 
the marriage rumours, and had no relish for going 
back to Court just then. So he dared to disregard 
the Queen's positive orders, and went on his way. 
But discouragement met him. He learnt that no 
silver ships were to venture out this year ; for the 
Spaniards knew all about his enterprise. Then a 
great storm scattered his ships off Finisterre. 

It was too late in the season now to attempt the 
attack on Panama, and he therefore determined to 
leave Frobisher with one squadron on the Spanish 
coast to divert attention, and send Borough to the 
Azores to waylay such ships from the Indies as might 
happen to pass ; whilst he, Ralegh, returned home. 
He arrived in London in June, and was immediately 
arrested and lodged in the Tower. No reason was 
ever given for his imprisonment ; it is just possible 
that the ostensible excuse for it may have been his 
disobedience to the Queen's orders in not returning 
at once, but it is certain that his real crime was his 
liaison with Elizabeth Throgmorton. Taking such 
slight evidence as exists into consideration, it is 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 127 

doubtful whether at this time Ralegh had been 
secretly married to her, though for the rest of his 
life she made him a tender, noble, and faithful wife. 
But the Virgin Queen arrogated to herself an absolute 
monopoly of love-making in her Court, and looked 
upon the marriage of her favourites as a personal 
insult to herself. The friends of Essex were openly 
jubilant, whilst the Cecils, his enemies, tried their 
best to soften the fate of Ralegh. Whether it be 
true that Lady Ralegh herself was imprisoned in the 
Tower, as stated, is not certain ; but in any case 
the Queen never forgave her whilst she lived, and 
Ralegh himself, desirous of winning back the Queen's 
favour, was careful to avoid all reference to the 
accomplice of his 'crime.' In a 'letter from the 
Tower to Cecil, about the payments on account of 
the uniform of the Queen's bodyguard, he writes 
in the following inflated strain. The Queen, be it 
remembered, was then approaching sixty. ' My 
heart was never broken till this day that I hear the 
Queen goes so far ofF — whom I have followed so 
many years with so great love and desire in so many 
journeys, and am now left behind her in a dark prison 
all alone. While she was yet nire at hand that I 
might hear of her once in two or three days, my 
sorrows were less, but even now my heart is cast 
into the depth of all misery. I, that was wont to 
behold her riding like Alexander, hunting like Diana, 
walking like Venus, the gentle wind blowing her 



128 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

fair hair about her pure cheeks like a nymph ; some- 
times sitting in the shade like a goddess ; sometimes 
singing like an angell, sometime playing like Orpheus. 
Behold the sorrow of this world ! Once amiss hath 
bereaved me of all. O glory that only shineth in 
misfortune what is becum of thy assurance ? All 
wounds have skares (scars) but that of fantasie ; all 
affections their relenting but that of womankind. 
Who is the judge of friendship but adversity ? or 
when is grace witnessed but in offences ? There 
were no divinity but by reason of compassion, for 
revenges are brutish and mortal. All those times past 
— the loves, the sighs, the sorrows, the desires, can 
they not way down one frail misfortune ? Cannot 
one dropp of gall be hidden in so great heaps of 
sweetness ? I may then conclude Spes et fortiina^ valet e. 
She is gone, in whom I trusted, and of me hath not 
one thought of mercy, nor any respect of that that 
was. Do with me therefore what you list. I am 
more weary of life than they are desirous I should 
perish, which if it had been for her, as it is by her, I 
had been too happily born. Yours, not worthy any 
name or title. — W. R.' 

We may be certain that this outburst was not meant 
for the eyes of prosaic Robert Cecil alone ; but it was 
too early yet to appease the angry Queen. A little 
later Ralegh writes to the Lord Admiral Howard, ' I 
see there is a determination to disgrace and ruin me, 
and therefore beseech your Lordship not to offend Her 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 129 

Majesty any more by suing for me. I am now re- 
solved of the matter. I only desire that I may be 
stayed not one hour from all the extremities that 
either law or precedent can avouch.' While Ralegh 
was in the Tower under a cloud, and his enemies at 
Court and in Ireland striving their utmost, as he says, 
to ruin him, his good ship Roebuck having escaped 
from the Spanish fleet sent out to capture her, fell in, 
off Flores, with the great East Indian carracks, bound 
to Lisbon. One of them escaped to the shelter of the 
land forts, and was burnt, but the greatest and richest 
of them all, the Madre de Dios^ was attacked and 
overpowered by Borough's squadron. The poor 
Spaniards fought well for three hours, but they were 
hopelessly outnumbered, their loss was terrible, and 
they surrendered. Traditions have lingered even to 
our own days of the excitement in the west country 
when this, the greatest prize ever brought to England, 
was towed into Dartmouth. The sacredness of the 
name of the ship, her great size, and the almost un- 
told wealth contained in her hold, struck the popular 
imagination. The statement of her purser sets forth 
that she contained ' 8500 quintals of pepper, 900 
quintals of cloves, 700 quintals of cinnamon, 500 
quintals of cochineal, and 450 of other like merchan- 
dise, with much musk, precious stones worth 400,000 
cruzados, and some especially fine diamonds,' and 
Hawkins and Ralegh wrote to the Lord Admiral 
that the value of the prize would probably turn out 

I 



130 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

to be j^500,000, although this was afterwards found 
to be an exaggeration, but the cargo filled ten 
English ships to bring it to London, and was worth 
fully ^150,000, besides the precious stones and the 
ship herself. Pilfering of the valuable cargo began 
before the ship came into port, each man trying to 
snatch for himself some share of the great plunder. 
In vain Borough embargoed it all as the Queen's 
property, to steal which was treason ; pearls and 
amber, musk and civet were portable, and a com- 
petency might be carried away in breeches' pockets. 
The ship's companies were deeply resentful to hear 
that their master, Ralegh, was a prisoner, and began to 
get out of hand. Sir John Hawkins then wrote that 
Sir Walter was ' the especial man ' to bring things to 
order. By appealing to the Queen's covetousness, 
Burghley was able to obtain leave for Ralegh to go 
down to the west, still ' the Queen's prisoner, in 
charge of Mr Blount,' to arrange -matters. Whilst 
this was being negotiated, Burghley sent his son and 
successor. Sir Robert Cecil, post-haste to Dartmouth 
to stop the pilfering. Merchants from the neighbour- 
ing towns were already dealing in the rich plunder ; 
every cabin of the carrack had been rifled by the 
English sailors. Hernando de Mendoza, the captain, 
said that Sir John Borough got nothing, though the 
search of his chests told a different story. Cecil 
found that ^^28,000 worth of valuables had been 
filched before he reached Dartmouth. In the trunk 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 131 

of one English sailor there was found ' a chain of 
orient pearls, two chains of gold, four great pearls of 
the bigness of a fair pea, four forks of crystal, and 
four spoons of crystal set with gold and stones, and 
two cords of musk.' The Portuguese on the English 
ships bought or plundered priceless gems ; from one 
of them being taken as many as 320 diamonds, whilst 
another had a bag of diamonds as big as a fist ; an 
English corporal had a big bag of rubies, and much of 
the plunder found its way to the East Coast and to 
London. Sir Robert Cecil's letters to his father 
(Calendar of State Papers. Dom.) on the subject are 
very curious. From Exeter he writes that he stopped 
every man he met on the road who' had anything 
' which did smell of the prizes,' and brought them 
back with him. He found the Exeter people back- 
ward in revealing the whereabouts of plunder, until 
he had clapped a few of them in prison, and this soon 
brought things to light ; ' a bag of seed pearls ' amongst 
others. ' By my rough dealing with them, 1 have left 
an impression with the Mayor and the rest. I have 
taken order to search every bag and mail coming from 
the west, and though I fear the birds be flown — for 
jewels, pearls, and amber— yet will I not doubt but to 
save Her Majesty that which shall be worth my 
journey. My Lord, there never was such spoil. I 
will suppress the confluence of these buyers, of which 
there are above two thousand. My sending down 
hath made many stagger. Fouler ways, desperate 



132 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

ways, no more obstinate people did I ever meet 
with. . . . Her Majesty's captive comes after me, 
but I have outrid him, and will be at Dartmouth 
before him.' 

Ralegh followed Cecil close, and on his arrival at 
Dartmouth the latter writes to Heneage, ' I assure 
you, sir, his poor servants to the number of 140 
goodly men, and all the mariners came to him with 
such shouts of joy, as I never saw a man more 
troubled to quiet them in my life. But his heart 
is broken ; for he is very extreme pensive, longer 
than he is busied, in which he can toil terribly. 
The meeting between him and Sir John Gilbert 
was with tears on Sir John's part. Whensoever he 
is saluted with congratulations for liberty, he doth 
answer, ' No, I am still the Queen of England's 
poor captive. I wished him to conceal it, because here 
it doth diminish his credit, which I do vow to you 
before God is greater amongst the mariners than I 
thought for. I do grace him as much as I may, 
for I find him marvellously greedy to do anything to 
recover the conceit of his brutish offence.' 

Ralegh, as has already been stated, embarked more 
than all his fortune in the enterprise, the entire 
amount contributed by the adventurers, except 
Cumberland, being ^34,000, of which ^18,000 had 
been subscribed in money, and the rest in shipping. 
The Queen had contributed ^1800 in money and 
two ships, so that her proper share would have been 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 133 

one tenth of the proceeds. She was not satisfied 
with this and wished to grasp the lion's share. The 
Earl of Cumberland had contributed ^19,000 and 
was offered ^36,000, or a clear profit of ^'17,000, 
whilst Ralegh and a few friends had contributed 
^34,000 and were off'ered a return of ^36,000, out 
of which they had to pay the city of London and 
others certain amounts, which left them nett losers 
of ^2200. Ralegh was still the ' Queen's poor 
captive,' but he would not put up with such injustice 
as this without a protest ; the injustice indeed was 
so glaring that even Sir John Fortescue, Chancellor 
of the Exchequer, warned Lord Burghley that the 
' adventurers would never be induced to further 
venture if they were not princely' considered of.' 

The princely consideration ended in the Queen's 
keeping half of the great booty for herself, and 
Ralegh barely got his own back again, but 
after such a rich haul as this she could hardly 
send him back to his easy prison in the Brick 
Tower, and in December we find him once more 
installed in his own mansion of Durham Place, though 
for long afterwards he was not allowed to approach 
the Queen. 

Ralegh's release from attendance at Court, how- 
ever much he may have looked upon it as a crush- 
ing disgrace, gave him opportunities for employing 
his great powers in matters more worthy of him than 
feigned love-making to the elderly Queen and in- 



134 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

trigue against Essex. In the Parliament of 1592-3 
he took an active part in the debates. He had already- 
established himself as one of the first authorities on 
parliamentary procedure and precedents, and his great 
eloquence and clearness of statement are noticeable, 
even in the summarised reports of his speeches in 
D'Ew^e's yournal of the Parliaments of EU'zabeth. 

The Spaniards, through the action of the League, 
had now established a footing in Brittany ; and this 
near neighbourhood caused great anxiety to Eliza- 
beth's government. It became necessary, therefore, 
to demand considerable grants from Parliament for 
the defence of the country, and Ralegh took a 
prominent share in advocating a liberal policy in 
this respect, not — as he w^s careful to say — to 
please the Queen, but because he saw the urgent 
need of it. He was in favour of dropping the 
mask and making an open declaration of war. 
Many persons, he said, considered it "wrong to take 
prizes from the Spaniards under the present circum- 
stances, but if a regular declaration of war was 
made, no such scruples would exist, and the Queen 
would have more volunteers at sea to fight the 
Spaniards than she needed. As usual, in this debate, 
Ralegh appears as a defender of the privileges of 
the House of Commons. It had been proposed that 
the House of Lords should be taken into conference 
with regard to the granting of the supplies ; and 
this would have been carried but for Ralegh, who 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 135 

pointed out the objections to it. If, he said, the 
proposal had been for a general conference with the 
Lords touching the great and imminent dangers of 
the realm, there would be no objection. The effect 
would be the same and the privileges of the House 
preserved. A resolution to this effect was therefore 
carried. 

Ralegh, in this session, spoke strongly in the debate 
on the question of the alien retailer. It appears that 
a large number of Dutchmen had established them- 
selves in St Martin's le Grand, which was a sanctuary 
and extra-municipal, where they carried on a brisk 
trade as weavers, spinners and retailers of textiles, 
' to the great detriment of rnerchants and regular 
dealers in our own city, inasmuch that threescore 
English retailers had been ruined by them since last 
Parliament.' A bill was introduced to make such 
alien retail trading illegal, and was supported by 
Ralegh in a vigorous speech. It was alleged by 
the opponents of the bill that it was being promoted 
by 'our mercantile engrossers,' in order that the ruin 
of the English retail shopkeeper might be imputed 
to the strangers rather than to the action of what 
then answered to our modern ' corners ' and ' trusts.' 
The answer to this was that ' engrossing ' was quite 
allowable amongst merchants. ' Others, again, ran 
upon the more universal topics of charity, in giving 
shelter and means of getting livelihood to poor, 
destitute strangers, who fly to us for religion and 



136 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

relief.' Ralegh's reply to the opponents of the bill 
is extremely curious, touching as it does so closely 
a burning question of our own day. 'Whereas it 
is pretended,' he said, ' that for strangers it is against 
charity, against honour, against profit, to expel them, 
in my opinion it is no matter of charity to relieve 
them. For first : such as fly hither do so forsaking 
their own king ; and religion is no pretext for them, 
for we have no Dutchman here but such as come 
from where the Gospel is preached. Yet here they 
live, disliking our church. For honour : it is honour 
to use strangers as we be used amongst strangers, 
and it is a lightness in a Commonwealth — yea, a 
baseness in a nation — to give liberty to another nation 
which we cannot receive again. . . . And for 
profit : they are all of the house of Almoigne who 
pay nothing ; yea, eat out our profits and supplant 
our own nation. Custom, indeed, they pay — I5d. 
where we pay I2d. — but they are discharged of sub- 
sidies. The nature of the Dutchman is to fly to no 
man but for his profit, and they will obey no man 
long. . . . Therefore I see no reason that such 
respect should be given to them ; and to conclude : 
in the whole, no matter of honour, no matter of 
.charity, no profit in relieving them.' The bill for 
the disestablishing the retailing 'Dutchmen' was 
passed by 162 votes against 82. 

Sir Walter, on the other hand, threw cold water on 
a bill in the same Parliament for the suppression or 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 137 

expulsion of the dissenting sect called Brownists. He 
had, he said, no sympathy with the sect, but pointed 
out the practical difficulties in the way of their expulsion, 
and the hardship it would bring about. In this case 
the bill was referred to a select committee, of which 
Ralegh was chairman, and eventually passed in a 
very modified and innocuous form. 

Just before his disgrace, whilst he was in high 
favour with the Queen, he had obtained, after much 
intrigue and importunity, the fine estate of Sherborne, 
in Dorsetshire. The estate belonged to the See of 
Salisbury, which had been vacant for three years, 
having been twice refused because a condition was 
attached to the acceptance, that Sherborne Castle was 
to be surrendered. At length 'Ralegh got hold of a 
pliant cleric named Coldwell, and gave the Queen a 
jewel worth ;^250 to appoint him to the bishopric. No 
sooner was Coldwell appointed than he leased Sherborne 
to the crown for 99 years at a rent of ^^260, which 
lease was almost immediately transferred to Ralegh. 
This beautiful domain became henceforward for the 
next ten years the best beloved abode of Ralegh and 
his wife. Deep in his books, his mind full of vast 
projects which should bring wealth to himself, and 
honour to his country, he passed here much of the 
three years following his so called disgrace ; and 
notwithstanding the heartbroken plaints contained 
in the fragment of ' Cynthia^ written at the time, 
to which reference has been made, it is questionable 



138 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

whether this period was not really the happiest in his 
life. His wife and he were devotedly attached to 
each other and to their picturesque home; he had a 
son born to him in 1594 ; and his building, planning 
gardens, and planting copses, kept him busy whilst 
there. His occupations away from Sherborne were 
still numerous, and prevented him from rusting ; if, 
indeed, such a thing was possible to his keen mind. 
He still discharged his important duties as Lord 
Warden of the Stannaries, he was intensely absorbed 
in his plans at Lismore, in the misgovernment of 
Ireland, and in the pipe-stave enterprise on his Irish 
estates ; and his palace of Durham House was still 
filled by his family and a splendid train of followers 
at least once every year. While at Sherborne he 
kept up a close correspondence with Sir Robert Cecil, 
and other friends at Court ; he generally had some 
claim to forward, or some protege to help ; and de- 
spondent as his verses are with the perTunctory sorrow 
considered becoming on such occasions, there is no 
sign in his letters that Sir Walter had changed from 
the keen, active, ambitious, brilliant gentleman he 
had ever been ; though doubtless his pride suffered at 
the knowledge that, at last, his enemies at Court, who 
for so long had scoffed at him as a 'jack,' a 'knave,' 
and an ' upstart,' had prevailed over him. The one 
thing they dreaded was that he should again obtain 
access to the Queen, and permission to perform his 
duties as captain of the guard. Sir Robert Cecil and 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 139 

the old Lord Treasurer Burghley, against whom Essex 
was for ever railing, cautiously did what they could 
for Ralegh, and at one time, after his views on the 
severe suppression of disaffection in Ireland had been 
submitted to the Queen, it looked as if he might be 
recalled to Court and made a Privy Councillor. One 
of Essex's friends wrote at this juncture, 'It is now 
feared of all honest men, that Sir Walter Ralegh shall 
presently come to Court, and yet it is well withstood. 
God grant him some further resistance ; and that 
place he better deserveth, if he had his right.' 



CHAPTER VIII 

GUIANA — THE FIRST EXPEDITION THITHER 

It must have become evident to Ralegh in his com- 
parative seclusion, that if ever he w^as to regain his 
influence over the Queen it could only be done by 
some bold and successful action, which should com- 
pletely throw his rivals into the shade. The vast 
plunder from the carrack had done something to 
rehabilitate his name ; but it had not gained him 
access to the sovereign. As we have seen, the main 
idea which had run through all the actions of his life 
had been to prove the impotence of Spain upon the 
sea, and to assert the claims of England to a share in 
the territory of the new world. The lukewarmness 
of ' capitalist adventurers ' in his Virginian plans had 
caused the comparative failure which had attended his 
efforts. The promptness of the colonists to abandon 
the settlements, and return to England, as soon as 
they understood that there was no opportunity of 
acquiring sudden wealth by plundering or discovering 

140 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 141 

gold, had convinced Ralegh that mere extension of 
territory for England was a motive not powerful 
enough to unbutton the pocket of investors, ac- 
customed to the great, if uncertain, profits of piracy, 
or to induce men to risk their bodies in the adventure. 
He himself had spent the enormous sum of ^40,000 
on the Virginian enterprise, but neither the Queen nor 
the bankers would risk a shilling, and it was clear that 
the promise of gaining of vast and sudden wealth must 
be held out as a bait in future ventures of the same 
sort. Ralegh's own ideas, moreover, were extremely 
lavish and extravagant. He never hoarded money, 
and though his revenues must have been very large, 
his expenditure was still larger. His train was as 
numerous and splendid as that of the greatest nobles 
in England, whilst the value of his own attire and 
adornments were incomparably more costly than any. 
His buildings at Lisrhore and Sherborne, his experi- 
ments in forestry, agriculture, and industry, were all 
expensive, and unless he was to fall ofF and become an 
admittedly decayed and discarded courtier, against 
which his pride rebelled, it was necessary that he 
should somehow obtain the control of vast wealth. If 
he could at the same time perform some brilliant 
service to the country and his sovereign, then all 
might be well, and Essex placed in the background. 

He had always been a student of Spanish accounts 
of exploration and travel. He wanted to learn the 
methods by which the Spaniards had arrived at 



142 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

success, and the reasons why, in some places, they 
had failed. ' There was,' says Lloyd, ' not an expert 
soldier or seaman but he consulted, not a printed or 
manuscript discourse of navigation or war but he 
perused, nor were there exacter rules or principles 
for both services than he drew up ; so contemplative 
was he, that you would think he was not active ; 
so active that you would think he was not prudent.' 
By Ralegh's own remarks in the History of the 
World we know that he ascribed the success of the 
Spaniards to their dogged perseverance in the face 
of repeated failure, and to their sowing dissension 
amongst the various tribes of natives ; whereas he 
attributes their failures to disunion and jealousy 
amongst themselves. 

Gold and territory were therefore the talismans that 
in Ralegh's eyes were to restore him to the first 
place in Elizabeth's favour. He knew full well that, 
as she would not make a formal declaration of war, 
no permanent occupation of territory in which the 
Spaniards were established would be permitted, even 
if it had been possible, and the problem, for 
Ralegh, was to find a place in which Spain had 
no footing, and yet where the existence of gold in 
great quantities was notorious, as a bait for capitalists 
and adventurers. It is hard to see where Ralegh 
could cast eyes except upon what was called the 
great empire of Guiana, the mysterious virgin land 
of gold, which had for fifty years filled the credulous 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 143 

minds of men with dreams of wealth beyond human 
computation. Thousands of men, expedition after 
expedition, had set out to follow the glittering 
mirage, but it had always receded as they had 
advanced. Through dense tropical swamps, through 
trackless virgin forests, dark at noonday, over savage 
mountains and boundless savannahs, men had vainly 
sought the fabled city of burnished gold, on the 
brink of its inland sea. Pestilence and famine, 
savages and wild beasts, fatigue and accident, had 
stricken down the gold-seekers before they came 
within sight of the prize. Now and again a 
famished straggler came back, distraught perchance 
by his sufferings, with wondrous tales of the marvels 
his eyes had seen, or his ears -had listened to, and 
the golden fables were sent on their rounds again, 
to inspire fresh expeditions and renewed sacrifice of 
human life. And yet, withal, in 1594 the great 
empire of Guiana was still virgin, awaiting the 
coming of its captor. Knowing what we do of 
Ralegh's character and circumstances, it is not 
wonderful that he was convinced that fate had 
reserved for him the honour of casting into his 
offended mistress's lap riches that should satisfy even 
her craving, and of endowing his country with an 
empire which should enable her to lower the pride 
of Spain. 

Everyone in England had heard of the land that 
had come to be called El Dorado, ' the gilded.' Fable 



144 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

had been mixed with fact in such a way that the 
idea of where, or exactly what, it was must have been 
hazy, but the name was one that appealed to the 
imagination, and Englishmen were eager for further 
knowledge. The story went that one of the Inca 
princes of Peru, the kinsman of the murdered sovereign 
Atahualpa, had fled before the Spanish persecutors, 
across the Andes with some thousands of Peruvians 
and vast treasures, and had conquered the empire of 
Guiana, making himself Emperor, with his capital 
Manoa on a supposed inland sea 600 miles long, 
the whole empire extending from the Amazon to 
the upper Orinoco. There seemed nothing in- 
trinsically improbable in these glowing stories to 
generations that had seen or heard of the sacking 
of Quito, Cuzco and Mexico ; and Ralegh's an- 
ticipations as to the natural riches of Guiana itself, 
for which even Sir Robert Schomburgk thought it 
necessary to apologise, are now turning out to be 
well justified. There is not the slightest ground for 
the assumption that Ralegh deliberately invented 
the stories about the abounding gold in Guiana, as 
David Hume and others would infer. The stories 
told by those who had seen it seemed convincing 
enough. Robert Dudley, who went up the Orinoco 
shortly after Ralegh's first voyage, said that he had 
found gold, and that the natives had brought him 
plates of the metal. A Spanish soldier asserted on 
his death-bed that he had lived for seven months in 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 145 

Manoa, which city was so large that it took him thirty- 
hours to travel from the outskirts to the centre, and that 
when he departed the Emperor gave him as much gold 
as he and several carriers could convey. The Indians 
on the Orinoco were all anxious to send the greedy 
white men farther on, and ever farther on, with golden 
fables either out of the usual savage desire to surprise 
and delight their interlocutors, or else to save their 
own tribes from plunder. Ralegh must therefore be 
acquitted of a fraudulent desire to deceive. What 
he did was to place the getting of gold in the fore- 
front of the enterprise, because he knew by experience 
that that was the only inducement which would lead 
men to take part in it. 

The most recent attempt to open up Guiana had 
been made by Antonio de Berreo, who had married 
the daughter or niece of Hernan Perez de Ouesada, 
who had attempted the task many years before, and 
was the founder and governor of the kingdom of New 
Granada. He, Berreo, told Ralegh that he had spent 
300,000 ducats on his expeditions. He had started 
from New Granada with 700 horsemen, 1000 oxen and 
many Indians, and travelled 1500 miles before he 
could get within touch of Guiana. He appears to 
have gone down the Rio Negro into the Orinoco, 
down which river he also went, but for a whole year 
could hear no tidings of the great empire of Guiana, 
his company meanwhile dwindling fearfully with 
sickness and the attacks of the Indians, At last he 

K 



146 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

came to a country called Amapaia, where, after much 
fighting and many months of residence, he obtained 
news of Guiana from the natives, and acquired ten 
images of fine gold, plates, crescents, etc., * which, as he 
swore to me and divers other gentlemen, were so 
curiously wrought, as he had not seen the like in 
Italy, Spain, or the Low Countries,' These he sent 
by his colonel, Domingo de Vera, to Philip 11. After 
many fruitless attempts to reach Guiana, of which he 
heard much from an aged river chief called Carapana, 
Berreo, with the few survivors left to him, was forced 
to go down the river to Trinidad ; of which island 
he was made Governor. From there he kept up his 
attempts to obtain communication with Guiana, and 
as a preliminary to a systematic attempt at conquest, 
took possession of the River Orinoco for the King of 
Spain in April 1593. With the encouragement and 
help of the home government he was preparing for 
fitting out a strong new expedition for annexing Guiana 
to Spain, at the same time that Ralegh had determined, 
if possible, to capture it for England. 

Ralegh's project for a great expedition to Guiana 
met with opposition from many quarters. He had 
powerful enemies, and his character did not stand 
high amongst the people at large. There were 
persistent rumours that he was either going on a 
piratical expedition, or else to offer his services to 
Spain in revenge for his disgrace, and adventurers 
still fought shy of embarking in his risky enterprises. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 147 

His devoted wife, moreover, woman-like, was full of 
forebodings, and sought to divert his mind from the 
project. There is a curious letter at Hatfield from 
her to Sir Robert Cecil (8th February 1594) begging 
him to dissuade Ralegh from the Guiana enterprise. 
The orthography is so curious that, as a specimen, 
it may be given as written by Lady Ralegh. * Now 
Sur, for the rest I hope for my sake you will rather 
draw Sur Watar towardes the est, then heulp hyme 
forward toward the soonsett, if ani respecke to me or 
love to him be not forgotten. But everi monthe hath 
its flower and everi season his contentment, and you 
greate counselares are so full of new councels, as you 
ar steddi in nothing, but wee poore soules that hath 
bought sorrow at a high price desiar, and can be 
pleased with the same misfortun wee hold, fering 
alltarracions will but multiply misseri, of wich we have 
allredi felt sufficiant. I knoo truly your parswadcions 
ar of efecke with hyme and hild as orrekeles tied to 
them by Love ; therfore I humbelle besiech you rathar 
stay hyme then furdar hyme. By the wich you shall 
bind me for ever.' 

During his preparations also other mariners with 
small forces thought they could forestall him. In a 
letter to Cecil at the end of December 1594, he urges 
that an embargo should be placed on shipping. < For 
if Eaton's shipps go, who will attempt the chiefest 
places of my enterprise ? I shall be undun ; and I 
know they will be beaten and do no good. From 



148 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Alresford this Saturday after I left you with a hart 
half broken.' 

As a preliminary to his own expedition, Ralegh sent 
his old captain, Jacob Whiddon, in 1594, to recon- 
noitre the delta and entrances of the Orinoco. 
Whiddon seems to have been a brave, simple-minded 
sailor, who was beguiled by Berreo, Governor of 
Trinidad, into giving him a full account of Ralegh's 
intentions, and he returned home at the end of 
the year with vague rumours of the golden 
wonders of Guiana, but with but little topographical 
information. 

On the 6th February 1595, Ralegh sailed out of 
Plymouth, his expedition consisting of five ships and 
some boats for river exploration. The list of officers 
who were to accompany him, as given by Ralegh 
himself, mentions Captain George Gifford as second in 
command, with Captains Caulfield, Amiotts Preston, 
Thynne, Laurence Kemys, Eynos, Whiddon, 
Clarke, Cross, and Facy ; but in the account of the 
voyage, he says that Howard's ship, the Lion's 
Whelps and Captain Amiotts Preston's ships failed to 
join them, and were left behind. Amongst other 
gentlemen present there seem to have been ' my 
cousin Butshead Gorges, my nephew John Gilbert, 
and my cousin Grenville.' Altogether it is stated 
that there were a hundred men in the expedition, 
exclusive of the mariners, and from the letter above 
quoted from Ralegh to Cecil (December 1594) he 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 149 

appears to have again employed the whole of his 
resources in the preparations. He had obtained a 
royal patent, addressed drily to 'our servant Sir 
Walter Ralegh,' authorising him to 'offend and 
enfeeble the King of Spain, and to discover and 
subdue heathen lands not in possession of any 
Christian prince, or inhabited by any Christian people, 
and to resist and expel any persons who should 
attempt to settle within 200 leagues of the place he 
fixed upon for the settlement.' 

By the time he arrived at Trinidad, 22nd March, 
the only ships he had were his own vessel and a small 
bark of Captain Cross's. With these he remained 
five days off point Curiapan, the south-west point of 
Trinidad, now called Hicac^s, biit could gain no 
speech of the natives, who were in fear of the 
Spaniards. Ralegh himself, in his barge, coasted close 
in shore, surveying every cove and harbour, and 
describes oysters growing on the mangrove trees, and 
the great pitch lake of Trinidad, familiar now to all 
travellers, but then new and marvellous. At what is 
now called Port of Spain, Ralegh found his missing 
ships ; and a party of Spaniards drawn up on the shore. 
The latter made signs of amity and of a desire to trade, 
'more for doubt of their own strength than for 
aught else ' ; and Captain Whiddon was sent on shore to 
parley with them. After dusk a small Indian canoe 
stole alongside Ralegh's ship with a chief and another 
man on board, who had known Whiddon on his former 



I50 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

voyage, and desired to give the Englishmen informa- 
tion of the strength and whereabouts of the Spaniards, 
and especially of the Governor Berreo. The Spaniards, 
hov/ever, who visited Ralegh's ships for trade, or out of 
curiosity were hospitably received, and from them 
much knowledge was gained of Guiana. ' For these 
poor soldiers having been many years without wine a 
few draughts made them merry, in which mood they 
vaunted of Guiana, and of the riches thereof, but I 
bred in them an opinion that I was bound only for 
the relief of those English which I had planted in 
Virginia.' On the occasion of Whiddon's previous 
voyage. Governor Berreo had, it was said, treacherously 
enticed eight of his men ashore and murdered them, 
and Ralegh had determined to avenge this injury. He 
now learned from a friendly Indian spy that Berreo 
had sent to Margarita and Cumana for some more 
soldiers to surprise the expedition. The Indians, 
moreover, stole on board every night with hideous 
stories of the tortures Berreo was inflicting upon 
them. ' So as both to be revenged of the former 
wrong, as also considering that to enter Guiana 
by small boats, to depart 400 or 500 miles from 
my ships, and to leave a garrison at my back inter- 
ested in the same enterprise who also daily expected 
supplies out of Spain, I should have savoured very 
much of the ass ; and therefore taking a time of most 
advantage, I set upon the Corps de Garde in the 
evening, and having put them to the sword, sent 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 151 

Captain Caulfield with 60 soldiers, and myself 
followed with 40 more, and so took their new city 
of San Joseph by break of day ; they abode not any 
fight, after a few shot, and all being dismissed but 
only Berreo and his companion, I brought them with 
me aboard, and at the instance of the Indians I set 
their new city of San Joseph on nre.' It would 
perhaps be unjust to judge this entirely unprovoked 
slaughter of Spaniards by the standard of morality 
existing in our own day, but it will be readily under- 
stood that the fact would be treasured up in the minds 
of their countrymen, as was the capture of the great 
carrack, and that when Spain had an opportunity of 
injuring Ralegh it was quite natural that revenge 
should be indulged in to the utmost. Before Ralegh 
left Trinidad, carrying Berreo with him, he assembled 
the Indians and told them that he was ' the servant of 
a Queen who was the great cacique of the north and 
a virgin, who had more caciques under her than there 
were trees in the island, that she was an enemy of the 
Castellanos in respect of their tyranny and oppression, 
and that she delivered all such nations about her as 
were by them oppressed, and having freed all the 
coast of the northern world from their servitude had 
sent me to free them also, and withal to defend the 
country of Guiana from their invasion and conquest. 
I showed them Her Majesty's picture, which they so 
much admired and honoured as it had been easy to 
have brouo;ht them idolatrous thereof. The like and 



152 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

more large discourse I made to the rest of the nations 
both in my passing to Guiana and to those of the 
borders, so as in that part of the world Her Majesty is 
very famous and admirable.' 

Berreo made the best of matters, and gave Ralegh 
much information about Guiana, amongst other things 
that it was 600 miles further from the sea than 
Whiddon had reported ; a fact which was carefully 
concealed from the men on the expedition, 'who 
else would never have been brought to attempt the 
same.' 

The Lions JVhelp^ and Captain Kemys's ship, which 
had been lost sight of early in the voyage, having 
joined, and the expedition being complete, except 
for Preston's vessel, preparations were made for the 
river voyage. Ralegh thought that if Preston had 
come, and they had entered the river ten days earlier, 
before the floods, they might have reached Manoa, 
or near it. He was convinced, he said, that ' what- 
soever prince shall possess it (Guiana) he shall be 
lord of more gold and a more beautiful empire, and 
of more cities and people than either the King of 
Spain or the great Turk.' 

The ships were left at anchor in the Gulf of 
Paria, and the main exploring party embarked in 
an old 'gallego, which I caused to be fashioned like 
a galley, and in one barge, two wherries and a ship's 
boat of the Lions Whelp we carried 100 persons and 
their victuals for a month in the same, being all 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 153 

driven to lie in the rain and weather in the open 
air, in the burning sun, and upon hard boards, and 
to dress our meat, and to carry all manner of furniture 
in them, wherewith they were so pestered and un- 
savoury, that, what with victuals being most fish, with 
the wet clothes of so many men thrust together and 
the heat of the sun, I will undertake there was never 
any prison in England that could be found more 
unsavoury and loathsome, especially to myself, who 
had for many years before been dieted and cared for 
in a sort far differing.' 

Before Ralegh started he had obtained from Berreo, 
and from the Indians that could give information, 
such particulars as would guide him iij his search 
for the golden city. It mighr be reached, it was 
said, from the point on the Orinoco belonging to 
the aged King Carapana, or from another point 
higher up called Morequito, where an expedition pre- 
viously sent by Berreo had been murdered, except 
one man, after approaching the confines of Guiana. 
Plates and crescents of gold, we are told, were pos- 
sessed in great quantities by the Indians all along the 
coasts, and even up the Amazon — obtained by trading 
with the Guianans ; and the oft-told stories of the 
men who covered their naked bodies with gold dust 
during their drunken orgies, and of the riches, in 
comparison with which the treasures of Peru were 
insignificant, were all set forth again to the delight 
of the English explorers, eager now to start on 



154 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

their quest. When Berreo learnt that Ralegh's 
object after all was to take possession of the golden 
land for England, ' he was stricken with great 
melancholy and sadness, and used all the arguments 
he could to dissuade me, and also assured the gentle- 
men of my company that it would be labour lost ; 
and that they should suffer many miseries if they 
proceeded.' No entrance, he said, could be obtained 
by the rivers, which were full of shoals ; no Indians 
would approach the English, but would fly before 
them ; the way was long, the winter at hand, the 
floods near, and all the chiefs on the borders of 
Guiana had decreed that no trade for gold should 
be carried on with Christians. This, and much else 
of the same sort, failed to move Ralegh, who had 
gone too far to recede, and was in higher hope now 
than ever. 

An unsuccessful attempt having been made to enter 
with the ships various branches of the Orinoco, Ralegh 
determined to trust entirely to the poor boats already 
described. In a heavy sea they crossed the bay of 
Guanipa, opposite Trinidad, and entered a river which 
ran into it. Their pilot was an Indian called Ferdi- 
nando from the River Barima, south of the Orinoco, 
who knew but little of the intricate network of rivers 
on the north of the delta, ' and if God had not sent 
us another help we might have wandered a whole 
year in that labyrinth of rivers ere we had found any 
way out or in. All the rivers and islands, he says, are 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 155 

alike, bordered with huge trees ; and for many days 
they wandered backwards and forwards hopelessly 
astray ; until at last, in a river which Ralegh calls ' Red 
Cross River,' on the 22nd May, they providentially 
fell in with and captured a canoe with three Indians. 
* The rest of the people, shadowed under the thick 
wood on the bank, watched in doubtful conceit what 
might befall those three we had taken. But when 
they saw we offered them no violence . . . they offered 
to traffic with us for such things as they had . . . 
and we came with our barge to the mouth of a little 
creek, which came from their town into the great 
river.' The Indian pilot and his brother who went on 
shore had a near escape from death as a punishment 
for bringing a strange people thither, and in reprisal 
Ralegh seized a very old man of the tribe, and forced 
him to guide them into the great Orinoco. A good 
description is given by Ralegh of the Indians of the 
delta, whom he calls Tivitivas, ' a very goodly people and 
very valiant, and have the most manly speech that ever 
I heard.' They lived, it appears, on the ground in the 
summer, and in houses built in the trees when the floods 
of the Orinoco drowned their islands every winter.* 

* In Captain Thompson's map of the coast of Guiana, 1783, the 
north of the delta of the Orinoco traversed by Ralegh is thus described : 
' Orinoko islands, covered with palm trees, and overflowed from the 
end of January to the middle of July, Inhabited by Guaraunas or 
Tivitivas, whose houses are built on piles or among the branches of the 
trees.' This description, it will be observed, exactly confirms that given 
by Ralegh. Thompson's map has been reprinted by the English Gover- 
ment in the supplement to the Venezuelan Blue Book. 



156 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

' They never eat anything that is set or sown, 
but only that which Nature without labour 
bringeth forth. They use the tops of palmitas for 
bread, and kill deer, fish and pork for the rest of their 
sustenance.' On the third day after leaving the Indian 
town, Ralegh's boats ran aground, ' stuck so fast, as 
we thought, that our discovery had ended there, and 
that we must have left sixty of our men to have 
inhabited like rooks upon the trees with these nations.' 
The shoals and rapids were a constant danger to them, 
the dense forests on the banks shut them out from air 
and prospect, and in the heat and gloom of the appar- 
ently endless network of streams, the spirits of the men 
sank lower and lower. Then, when they at length 
reached a wider river, the Amana (Manamo), the ebb 
and flow of tides abandoned them, and all day they 
had to struggle against the rapid current, ' or to return 
as wise as we went out.' The men were assured every 
day that two or three days more would bring them 
to their destination ; and the gentlemen, to encourage 
them, shared their spells at the oar. At last the 
companies began to despair, food ran short, the air 
bred faintness, the work was hard. The pilots were 
ordered to assure the men that every reach of the river 
was the last before the destination, where food in plenty 
would be found, whereas to return meant starvation. 
The gorgeous tropical birds and flowers, even the 
luscious fruits, had ceased to attract the weary rowers, 
when the old pilot suggested that the galley should be 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 157 

anchored in the stream, and the other boats ascend a 
branch, where, he said, there was a village of Araucan 
Indians from whom food could be obtained. He 
assured Ralegh that they could return to the galley 
before night, and the suggestion was joyfully adopted. 
But hour after hour passed and the promised town did 
not appear, until, as night came on, the English were 
convinced that they were being betrayed. The pilot 
assured them that the place was only four reaches 
farther, but four, and another four, having been 
passed, 'our poor watermen even, heartbroken and 
tired, were ready to give up the ghost, for we had 
now come from the galley near 40 miles ' ; and it was 
decided to hang the pilot. But then came the thought 
that they should never find their way back with- 
out him. The river was so narrow and the vegetation 
so thick, that they had to hew their way through with 
their swords ; it was eight o'clock at night, pitch dark, 
and their stomachs were empty, and yet the poor 
old Indian kept urging them to row just one reach 
farther. At last at one o'clock in the morning they 
reached the village, where after a night's rest they 
obtained food and returned to the galley. As they 
came down the river by daylight with lighter hearts 
now, they saw that the country around them had 
changed. There were no more dense darkling woods 
such as for weeks past had closed them in, but flat rolling 
savannahs, as far as the eye reached. Fine short grass 
fed great flocks of deer as tame as if in an English park, 



158 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

thick flights of birds hovered over the banks, and vast 
quantities of fish inhabited the river. What most 
struck the explorers, however, was the enormous 
number of alligators, one of which, at the mouth of 
the river, devoured Ralegh's negro servant. In a few 
days their provisions were once more exhausted, when 
they espied four canoes coming down the river. Two 
of the canoes in despair ran ashore, and the men in 
them escaped, but the boats were full of cassava bread 
bound for Margarita, to be bartered to the Spaniards. 
In the small canoes that escaped were several Spaniards, 
who were apprised of Ralegh's treatment of their 
countrymen in Trinidad, and were trying to get away. 
The capture of the bread raised the Englishmen's spirits. 
' Let us go on ! we care not how far,' they cried. But 
more important still, Ralegh, whilst groping about the 
underwood on the banks in search of the canoes that 
had escaped, discovered a basket containing quicksilver, 
saltpetre, and a gold refiner's outfit,jind some gold dust. 
Some of the Indians that had been taken said that the 
small canoes contained much gold, and Ralegh offered 
^500 reward for the capture of the three Spaniards, but 
without result. The chief of the Indians was employed 
as a pilot and guide, to show him where the Spaniards 
had laboured for gold, ' though I made not the same 
known to all.' Tools were required for gold mining, 
and tools they had none. It was considered im- 
prudent to stay long in the neighbourhood of the gold 
country, for fear that the crews might mark the spot 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 159 

and sell their knowledge as soon as they reached a 
civilised country : ' and all our care taken for good 
usage of the people been utterly lost by those that only 
respect present profit.' When Ralegh reached home, 
he was blamed for not bringing at least a small 
quantity of ore from the place, but he defended him- 
self in his narrative by pointing out that the river was 
rising and the currents violent ; he had been over a 
month away from his ships, now 400 miles distant, 
* and to stay to dig out gold with our nails had been 
opus lahoris but not ingenii ' ,• besides which no sufficient 
quantity of ore could be obtained without the situation 
of the mines being made known. 

Things were looking brighter now. The Indians 
were propitiated, and promised protectipn against the 
injustice and cruelty of the Spaniards ; the former 
pilots were sent away rejoicing with letters to the ships 
in one of the captured canoes, and the new pilot 
and guide, the Araucan Indian Martin, installed in 
their place. After much hardship, on the fifteenth 
day, the eyes of the explorers were gladdened by 
the sight of what their guide told them were the 
mountains of Guiana, and in the early evening 
they glided, to their great joy, into the main 
stream of the Orinoco, 

Ralegh must have reached the main river by 
the Manamo, and emerged opposite the island of 
Tortola, the ranges described as the mountains of 
Guiana being: the Sierra de Piacoa and the Sierra 



i6o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

de Imataca. They anchored that night near the 
spot now called Barrancas, and the next day a 
border chief called Toparimaca came down to see 
the white men with many followers and presents 
of food. Wherever Ralegh had come within speak- 
ing distance of the natives, he had impressed upon 
them that he came to deliver them from the 
cruelty and oppression of the Spaniards, and 
consequently was warmly welcomed. He was, 
moreover, throughout the voyage most careful to 
prevent the slightest depredation or molestation of 
the Indians by his men, especially in the matter of 
native women, who, Ralegh says, were very beauti- 
ful, and the ill-treatment of whom by the Spaniards 
was a fertile source of irritation, Toparimaca led 
the white men to his town hard by, ' where some of 
our captains caroused of his wine till they were 
reasonably pleasant, for it is very strong with pepper 
and the juice of divers herbs arid fruits digested 
and purged ; they keep it in great earthen pots of 
ten or twelve gallons, very clean and sweet, and 
are themselves at their meetings and feasts the 
greatest carousers and drunkards in the world.' Leav- 
ing here, the expedition passed the island of Tortola, 
which Ralegh calls by the native name of Assapana, 
and came to anchor at a place which was understood 
to be one of the principal entrances to the empire 
of Guiana. The province had been ruled by a 
great border chief called Morequito, whose name 



SIR WALTER RALEGH i6i 

it bore as well as Aromaia, but Morequito himself 
having been killed by Berreo, in revenge for the 
murder of a Spanish expedition, had at the time of 
Ralegh's visit been succeeded by Topiavv^ari. Tw^o 
Guianans, v^ho had been staying in Toparimaca's 
town, were sent forward by Ralegh to a vassal chief of 
Topiawari to give notice of his coming, and the next 
few days were passed by the Englishmen rowing west- 
ward whilst exploring the river and neighbouring 
islands, feasting sumptuously the while on turtle eggs, 
which they found in abundance on the sands. The 
banks rose high, with a blue metallic lustre, which 
Ralegh thought was owing to the presence of steel, 
and on the north stretched the great plains of Sayma, 
far away over the delta towards Venezuela. They 
had continued to row gradually up the river until 
the sixth day, when they anchored at the port 
of Aromaia, the country of Morequito, and on the 
following day there came to welcome the white 
men the King Topiawari, the uncle of the dead 
Morequito. The old chieftain was no years old, 
and had walked the 28 miles from his town to 
the port, with presents of flesh, fish, fowl, pine- 
apples — the ' princess of fruits,' says Ralegh — and 
much else. Ralegh was gracious and bounteous, 
giving full value for everything he received ; he 
had come, he said, to deliver the Indians from Spanish 
tyranny, his Queen being greater and more powerful 
than the King of Spain. The old chief had himself 



i6z BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

been the captive of the Spaniards, led by a chain, 
and had bought his liberty with a hundred plates 
of gold, so that he listened eagerly to promises of 
vengeance. The site of the port must have been 
on the south bank of the river, shortly below the 
mouth of the Caroni, for the roaring of the falls 
was audible therefrom ; and after much discourse 
with the ancient chief, in which direct knowledge 
of Guiana was gained, Ralegh started to explore the 
interior by the great river Caroni. They thought 
to have ascended it 40 miles, but so tremendous 
was the current, though the river was as broad as 
the Thames at Woolwich, that an eight-oared barge 
could not gain a stone's cast in an hour, so the 
attempt had to be abandoned. At last, Ralegh was 
in touch with the fabled Guiana. Topiawari had 
told him that his nation, and all those between the 
river bank and the mountains behind were Guianans, 
but * that long, long ago there came a nation from so 
far off as the sun slept, with so great a multitude as 
could not be numbered or resisted, who had slain and 
rooted out as many of the ancient people as there were 
leaves on the trees, and had made themselves lords of 
all.' They wore hats and red coats, he said, and lived 
in houses of many rooms ; they had built on the 
border of their great plain a strong city called 
Macureguarai, at the foot of a high mountain, and 
here 3000 soldiers were kept to defend their 
country. Since the advent of the Spaniards, how- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 163 

ever, the Guianans and border people had become 
peaceful, and made common cause ; except certain 
tribes on the Caroni. It was now Ralegh's policy 
to reach these inimical tribes, and he sent from 
the mouth of the river native messengers in all 
directions to call them to a conference with the 
enemies of the Spaniards. The chiefs told him of 
powerful nations up the river, who were enemies 
of both the Spaniards and the Guianans, and who 
would help him to cross the mountains, and conquer 
the land, 'where we should satisfy ourselves with 
gold and all other good things.' In the meanwhile 
the floods were coming, and it behoved the boats 
to get away ; but it was necessary to take some- 
thing back beyond Indian promises to satisfy the 
'adventurers' in England. A Spanish captain, whom 
Ralegh had taken at Trinidad, told him of a great 
silver mine on the banks of the Caroni, and an 
expedition of five officers and thirty men was sent 
on foot to explore it, and, if possible, to push 
forward to the neighbourhood of the frontier town 
of Guiana, whilst Ralegh and a few followers marched 
overland to view the strange Falls of Caroni, and the 
plains beyond. From a hill several miles off, he says, 
there were visible 'ten or twelve overfalls, everyone 
as high over the other as a church tower, with that 
fury that the rebound of waters made it seem as if 
all covered with a great shower of rain.' Ralegh 
says he was but a poor footman, and would have been 



164 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

content with a distant view, but his companions drew 
him on little by little. The country he describes in 
glowing words. ' The plains without bush or stubble, 
all fair green grass, the deer crossing every path, the 
birds towards evening singing on every tree, with a 
thousand several tunes ; cranes and herons of white, 
crimson and carnation, perched on the riverside ; the 
air fresh with a gentle easterly wind, and every stone 
we stooped to take up promising either gold or silver 
by his complexion.' Many specimens were taken 
home, *and yet we had no means, but with our 
daggers and fingers, to tear them out here and there,' 
but want of knowledge led to the taking of much 
glittering stuff, which was worthless marcasite and 
the like. Crystals of various sorts, and many samples 
of auriferous quartz, were brought to the boats. 
Ralegh says that he saw great ledges and hills of this 
* white spar ' everywhere in the neighbourhood. ' Of 
this there hath been made trials. In London it was 
first assayed by Master Westwood, a refiner dwelling 
in Wood Street, and it held after a rate of £120 or 
^130 per ton. Another sort was afterwards tried by 
Master Palmer and Master Dimoke, assay masters, 
and it held after the rate of £^22,0 per ton. There 
was some of it again tried by Master Palmer, 
Controller of the Mint, and Master Dimoke in 
Goldsmith's Hall, and it held after the rate of ^^269 
per ton.' 

It was time now for Ralegh to return to the ships. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 165 

The swift torrent of the already flooded Orinoco 
swept his boats towards the sea without labour at a 
tremendous rate, even against the wind. He called in 
again at the port of Morequito, or Aromaia, to see the 
centenarian King Topiawari. Once more the English 
sailors were gladdened with plentiful and dainty food ; 
for Topiawari loaded them with provender. Ralegh 
took the King apart and begged him to tell him as 
a friend of his nation how he should reach the rich 
and civilised regions of Guiana. Topiawari answered 
that neither the time of year nor the number of his 
forces were fit for an expedition to Manoa ; and 
although he, Topiawari, could never hope to look 
upon his face again, he warned him that the Inca 
Emperor was so strong that it would be folly to 
attempt to invade Guiana without a large force and 
the co-operation of the inimical border tribes. The 
old King begged Ralegh to leave fifty soldiers with 
him until his return, but this was impossible, although 
Caulfield, Grenville and young Gilbert begged to be 
allowed to stay, for Berreo would be sure to come up 
the river as soon as possible, and 'I knew,' says 
Ralegh, ' he would use the same measure towards 
mine that I offered them at Trinidad.' The old 
chief, somewhat offended at this refusal, said that as 
soon as Ralegh was gone the Guianans would invade 
his country, and that the Spaniards also would attack 
him ; for they had already baptized and dressed a 
member of his family whom they called Don Juan, 



i66 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

and had set him up as a claimant for the throne. He 
therefore begged Ralegh to avoid all further con- 
ference with him for that year, though his followers 
were anxious for the English to return, and promised 
to help them to fight the Guianans and recover the 
women they had stolen from them, for they cared 
nothing for their gold. After much consideration it 
was decided not to attempt to attack the Guianan 
border town that year, but to return with a larger 
force ; and Topiawari gave Ralegh his only son, 
whom they christened Gualtero, to bring to England. 
Two Englishmen, Francis Sparry, a servant of Captain 
GifFord, who could describe a country with his pen, 
and a boy named Goodwin were left behind at their 
own request to learn the language ; and the former, 
if possible, to reach the border town to trade and 
observe. Ralegh then turned his boats towards the 
east, and swiftly sped down the river. With much 
cunning he had concealed from the credulous Indians 
all desire to obtain gold, or dominion over them ; or 
otherwise, he says, they would think there was little 
to choose between the Spaniards and the English j and 
he had given ' many gold pieces of the new money of 
20S. with Her Majesty's picture for them to wear ' more 
than he had received value for. He had, indeed, quite 
won the hearts of the simple people, who, long after 
he was in the grave, looked for his promised coming 
to free them from the cruelty of the Spaniards. There 
went with them from Aromaia a chief called Putijama, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 167 

who prevailed upon them to call in at his port some 
way down the river, where he told them he would 
show them a mountain of stones the colour of gold. 
Wherever Ralegh looked he saw assurance of gold. 
Auriferous quartz and matrix were scattered on all 
the hillsides : plates and ornaments of gold, smelted 
from alluvial nuggets and dust, he was told, were 
common, though he pretended not to regard them ; 
and he felt now that, at last, the golden empire of 
Guiana might be had for the grasping. Ralegh, with 
others, started on foot to visit Putijama's gold mine 
at Mount Iconuri, apparently near the subsequent site 
of Guayana Vieja (old Guiana), but Sir Walter, after 
a day's march, gave up the quest, and sent Captain 
Kemys instead, with instructions to Tejoin him lower 
down the river, at the town of a great chief called 
Carapana. From afar off Ralegh says he saw the 
great crystal mountain ' like a white church tower of 
exceeding height, with a mighty river falling sheer 
over it with a terrible noise and clamour, as if 1000 
great bells were knocking against another.' 

Carapana the chief had fled for fear of them, but 
his people were reassured by the English ; and finally, 
after much danger and many adventures, Kemys re- 
joined his leader, and the whole party reached the ships 
lying in the Gulf of Paria without losing a man, ex- 
cept the young negro devoured by alligators. 

Ralegh's intention had been to call and succour his 
colonists on the island of Roanoak, but westerly winds 



i68 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

drove him from the coast and prevented him. On his 
way home he called at Cumana, at Santa Maria, and 
at Rio de la Hacha, Spanish settlements on the Vene- 
zuelan coast, to buy provisions. They w^ere refused 
him — perhaps naturally — and he retorted by burning 
and sacking the settlements, though, he says, he found 
no treasure in any of them. Touching at the island 
of Cuba on his w^ay, he arrived home in England in 
August, having been absent nearly seven months. 



CHAPTER IX 

FRUSTRATED PLANS FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF GUIANA 

SPANISH ACTIVITY IN THE REGION — CAPTAIN 

KEMYs's VOYAGE TO GUIANA, 1 596 RALEGH AT 

THE SACKING OF CADIZ 

The one thing that could have rehabilitated Ralegh 
in the eyes of the world was that he should have 
returned to England loaded with wealth, and it is 
somewhat difficult to understand the slight attempts 
he made to obtain any treasure which might give a 
show of return for the capital that he and his friends had 
employed in the enterprise. It is true that he explains 
it as a matter of policy to gain the Indians, by assum- 
ing a complete disinterestedness ; but he must have 
known that without some tangible result of his 
voyage it would be difficult to enlist capitalists in the 
further exploration of the golden empire ; and the 
neglect of such obvious precautions as the talcing of 
proper boats for river exploration, a few mining tools, 
and materials for assaying metals, seems to indicate 

169 



170 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

a lack of practical organising power or foresight, which 
was even more conspicuous in his subsequent voyage. 
Ralegh arrived home at a time when the English 
adventurers were out of heart, and the marvellous 
stories of Guiana were received coldly and derisively. 
The tales of a nation of men with their faces in their 
breasts, of the savage Amazonian women, of the 
golden palaces of the Incas, and the diamond mountain, 
were sneered at by Ralegh's enemies as so many old 
wives' tales. They said that the ore brought was not 
from Guiana at all, but from Africa ; that he himself 
had been hiding in Cornwall, and had not gone with 
the expedition. Ralegh's answer was the publication 
of his vivid Discoverie of Guiana^ from which the 
above particulars of the voyage have been taken. In 
it he vigorously defends himself against his detractors. 
In his dedication of the narrative to his principal sup- 
porters. Lord Admiral Howard and Sir Robert Cecil, 
he indignantly denies that he has been hiding in 
Cornwall or elsewhere, or that he had ever intended 
to become a servant of the King of Spain ; ' and the 
rest were much mistaken who would have persuaded 
that I was too easeful and sensual to undertake a 
journey of so great travail. For myself, I have 
deserved no thanks, for I am returned a beggar, and 
withered ; but that I might have bettered my poor 
estate, it shall appear by the following discourse if 
I had not respected only Her Majesty's future honour 
and riches'; but he says it would ill have become 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 171 

the honourable offices he held to run from cape to 
cape in search of prizes. To those who said that he 
had only brought marcasite from the Orinoco, and 
that the other ore was from Africa, he replied, * Surely 
the singularity of that device I do not well compre- 
hend ; for my own part, I am not so much in love 
with these long voyages as to devise thereby to 
cozen myself, to lie hard, to fare worse, to be subject 
to perils, to diseases, to ill savours, to be parched and 
withered, and withal to sustain the care and labour 
of such an enterprise, except the same had more 
comfort than the fetching of marcasite in Guiana or 
buying of gold ore in Barbary.' 

But for all his eloquent pleading, the capitalists, and 
even the Queen, remained cold. His friend Cecil, 
who got no return for his capital, was dubious, and 
thought Ralegh over sanguine. When it became 
evident that the money for a great expedition to 
conquer the empire of Guiana for England could not 
be obtained, Ralegh advocated another policy. He 
drew up a plan, not for conquering the Inca, but for 
entering into alliance with him against the Spaniards, 
and making him a tributary to England. He proposed 
to arm the natives, and with the assistance of 400 or 
500 men from England, including armourers, artificers 
etc., to keep the Spaniard busy, who 'would not threaten 
us with any more invincible Armadas.' The Incas 
should be encouraged to attack the Spaniards in Peru ; 
they should be shown how rich and powerful England 



172 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

was, should be introduced to our commodities ; a 
certain number of them every year should be brought 
to England to educate and civilise, married to English 
Vi^omen, and sent back to instruct their fellows. It 
was proposed ' that they should pay a i tribute, and 
assign to the crown some rich mines, and rivers of 
gold, pearls, silver, rocks of precious stones, with some 
large fruitful countries for the planting of colonies 
of Englishmen.' Ralegh had no doubt, he said, 
that after the country had been colonised for a year 
or two, he should see in London 'a contraction house 
of more receipt for Guiana than that of Seville for 
the West Indies.' 

' The object of the voyage to Guiana,' he says, ' is 
to subdue and annex it to the crowne imperiall of 
this Realme of England,' and he proceeds to show 
that the enterprise would be honourable, profitable, 
necessary, and cheap. ' The Queen's dominions may 
be exceedingly enlarged, and this realm of England 
inestimably enriched.' But though Elizabeth was 
willing enough to be inestimably enriched by the 
efforts and expenditure of others, not a ship nor a 
ducat would she contribute herself. 

The Spanish government, slow as it usually was, 
did not take the matter so coolly. The slaughter at 
Trinidad and the kidnapping of Governor Berreo had 
aroused much indignation, and immediate attempts 
were made to forestall Ralegh's return to Orinoco. 
Berreo had been landed at Cumana, a settlement on 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 173 

the Venezuelan mainland, Trinidad being left entirely 
in the hands of the Indians. Soon after Ralegh's 
departure there- arrived Colonel de Vera, whom 
Berreo had sent to Spain with the golden images 
obtained from Guiana, and the wonderful stories the 
Spanish expedition had heard of the wealth of the 
interior. De Vera had managed to enlist the interest 
both of the Spanish Government and the merchants of 
Seville, and returned with a formidable expedition 
of five or six ships and 2000 men, for the purpose 
of taking possession of Guiana. In the mean- 
while, the Governor of Cumana, Roque de Montes, on 
hearing Berreo's tale of Ralegh's attack, sent Captain 
Felipe de Santiago to fix a new Spanish settlement in 
Trinidad, and then to go up the Orinoco, and report 
upon the best sites on the river for the establishment 
of Spanish forts. His reports to his chief, and those 
of the latter to the King of Spain, are now in the 
Archives of the Indies at Seville ; and prove how 
jealous the Spanish Government was of Ralegh's 
attempt to establish the English power in the region. 
Writing on the 2nd November 1595, describing the 
mouths of the Orinoco, he says, 'There is another 
mouth called the Manamo, by which it is known that 
the Englishman, Guaterral (i.e., Walter Ralegh), 
entered the Orinoco in the present year 1595, after 
having caused much trouble and injury to the Isle of 
Trinidad and its inhabitants. He left two young Eng- 
lishmen in the Orinoco for the purpose of learning the 



174 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

language and obtaining all information of the country, 
for on his departure it is said he left with the intention 
of returning hither.' The report of this captain (De 
Santiago) with regard to the wealth of Guiana in 
gold is more glowing even than that of Ralegh, 
though he says that the Indians 'are very watchful, 
and always endeavour to conceal it for fear of the 
Spaniards, whom they fear and dislike, and much dread 
they may settle there.' He recommends the establish- 
ment of the first Spanish post about six miles above 
Morequito's town, not far from the mouth of the 
Caroni, the place apparently where subsequently the 
original town of San Thome stood. It will be 
necessary to bear well in mind the exact position of 
this post, as the final accusations against Ralegh 
largely turned upon the question. The Governor of 
Cumana, a few months afterwards, writing to the 
King, says, 'I also instructed him (De Santiago) to 
apprehend two Englishmen whom Guaterral left there 
last year, 1595, with the intention of returning, and 
settling it, for the purpose of their becoming ac- 
quainted with the country and its best sites, and 
learning the language of the natives. I also in- 
structed the captain to advise the chiefs ©f Indians on 
the bank not to receive any strangers in their terri- 
tories, except Spaniards in Your Majesty's service.' 
It appears from the Governor's report that Santiago 
had captured in Morequito's country the man Francis 
Sparry, and had learnt that the other lad had been 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 175 

devoured by a tiger.* This latter was not the case, 
as Ralegh's second expedition in 161 7 found the lad 
Goodwin, though he had almost forgotten his own 
language. Sparry was kept prisoner by the Spaniards 
until 1602, when he returned to England, and gave a 
glowing account, quoted by Purchas, of the abund- 
ance of auriferous quartz in the country. 

On his way up the Orinoco, Santiago met Berreo 
with the new Spanish expedition ; and they immediately 
came to loggerheads about the resettling of Trinidad. 
Berreo said that he had been appointed Governor of 
the island by the King, and the Governor of Cumana 
had no business to interfere, but it was eventually 
decided that Santiago should return to Trinidad and 
build the new settlement, whilst Berreo remained on 
the Orinoco. The Governor writes then to the 
King, ' It is of the utmost importance to Your 
Majesty's service that the banks of the Orinoco 
should be settled, and I have considered well to 
push the matter forward, and in like manner the 
navigation for trade, both to New Granada and 
Trinidad, up and down the river. Particularly is 
this matter important for the conquest and settle- 

* Oldys must have gathered the information that Goodwin had been 
devoured by a tiger from Spanish sources. Recent writers on the 
subject express curiosity as to where he could have obtained it, but we 
see by the above letter that the intelligence was sent to the King of 
-Spain, and was doubtless current amongst Spaniards. The tale was 
evidently invented by the Indians to prevent the capture of Goodwin by 
Captain de Santiago. 



176 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

ment of the provinces of Guiana, Caura and El 
Dorado ; for this is the entry and road to attain 
that which those provinces give promise of. Thus 
no opportunity will be given to the enemy of settling 
it, nor will they have any entry to it by any other 
way, for according to the intention of Guaterral, 
who surveyed the whole of it last year, he will keep 
his promise and fulfil his bad purpose.' 

This was written in April 1596. Poor 'Guaterral,' 
in the meanwhile, had been almost in despair. He 
knew that Berreo, with the new expedition, had 
gone up the Orinoco as soon as he had left it ; 
and he had prayed and besought in vain that 
England should not forego the possession of the 
rich empire which he held before her. Cecil and 
Howard were incessantly importuned, but with all 
his efforts he could do no more than fit out two 
ships, the Darling and the Discovery, under Captain 
Kemys, laden with ' merchandise to comfort and 
assure the Indians,' and persuade them not to make 
any arrangement with the Spaniards. If he could 
keep them free, he thought, perhaps the eyes and 
pockets of England might be opened by his per- 
suasion, and the rich prize fall to his country after 
all. Practically all the cost of the expedition was 
defrayed by Ralegh and the Cecils, Lord Burghley 
contributing ;^500, and Sir Robert a fully furnished 
ship. Kemys left Portland on the 26th January 
1596. When he arrived in the Orinoco, he found, as 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 177 

he says, that Berreo had got the start of him, and 
had established the post shortly beyond Morequito 
or Topiawari's town, and below the mouth of the 
Caroni, a rocky islet in mid-stream having been 
made into a fort of refuge in case of need. Kemys 
anchored within musket shot of the town, and 
learnt that the Spaniards were lying in ambush at 
the mouth of the stream, ' to defend the passage to 
the mines whence the ore came from last year.' An 
Indian spy in friendly guise came on board and 
attempted to frighten the English by exaggerating 
the Spanish strength, but at last confessed that 
Berreo had only fifty men with him, who had 
taken refuge in the woods. Topiawari, he said, was 
dead, though this was untrue, and 'the Indians had 
fled and dispersed. Topiawari's son, Gualtero, now 
in England, was consequently King of the tribe, 
and his people were being led in his absence by 
Putijama, who had taken refuge near Mount Aio, 
where he had shown Kemys the rich mine in 
the previous year. The expedition consequently 
dropped down the river again to Putijama's town, 
but found the Indians had fled. One that was left 
offered to lead Kemys to a very rich mine in a 
mountain 15 miles ofF, so rich that it had 
been jealously kept from the Spaniards, and even 
the Indians were warned away from the moun- 
tains by their chiefs, by fables of devouring dragons 
and other terrible tales. The Indian promised that, 

M 



178 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

if the English would bring a good store of wine, he 
would exorcise the dragon. Kemys, however, was 
afraid of going, for it might open the eyes of the 
Spaniards ; and the baptised Indian Don Juan, the 
cousin of Gualtero, who sought to usurp the kingdom, 
might help them to the possession of the mine. So 
Kemys somewhat lamely returned, capturing some 
Indian emissaries of Berreo's on the way to the coast 
for reinforcements, and arrived back in England at 
the end of June. The news he brought was a bitter 
disappointment to Ralegh's friends, for the Spaniards 
had now established a strong foothold near the mouth 
of the Caroni, one of the principal entrances to the 
coveted golden empire. Ralegh himself was away 
with the fleet at Cadiz when his captain returned, 
but Lady Ralegh thus wrote to Sir Robert Cecil on 
the tidings he brought. ' Thus you hear your poor 
absent friend's fortune, who if he had been as well 
credited in his reports and knowledge as it seemeth 
the Spaniards were, they had not been possessors of 
that place.' Nothing seems to have rankled in the 
minds of Ralegh and his wife so much as the sneers 
of his enemies that he was telling lies about the wealth 
of Guiana. He wrote from Sherborne to Cecil shortly 
before Kemys sailed. 'What becomes of Guiana I 
much desire to hear — whether it pass for a history or 
a fable. I hear Mr Dudley and others are sending 
thither ; if it be so, farewell all good from thence. 
For although myself — like a cockscomb — did rather 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 179 

prefer the future in respect of others, and rather 
thought to win the Kings to Her Majesty's service 
than to sack them, I know what others will do when 
those Kings shall come simply into their hands.' 
Ralegh was ahead of his times. He kept sturdily 
through all disappointments to his main object, 
namely to win a great colonial empire for England, 
and it is pathetic to note how he was blindly thwarted 
by others, whose only aim, as he says, was their own 
immediate profit. 

On his return Kemys wrote a narrative of his 
voyage, which was as vigorous an appeal to the 
patriotism of his fellow-countrymen as that of his 
chief had been. ' Look,' he says, ' how eager the 
Spaniard is to forestall us in Guiana. He was pre- 
paring an expedition of 600 families to send thither, 
but the ships were burnt in Cadiz. They are busy 
whilst we are idly waiting for news which we straight- 
way forget when we have heard them.' Are the 
Spaniards, he asks, more able than we ? Have they 
more men to spare ? Do they love their country 
more ? and he gives a tremendous negative to all 
these questions, and urges Englishmen to seize the 
opportunity before it is too late. Kemys's final 
exhortation is as persuasive as a modern company 
prospectus. ' It is fit only for a prince to begin and 
aid this worke ; the maintenance and ordering thereof 
requiring sovereign power, authoritie and command- 
ment. The river of Raleana (Orinoco) giveth opon 



i8o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

and free passage, any provision that the Spaniards can 
make to the contrary notwithstanding (for once a 
year the lands near the river be all drov/ned), to 
convey men, horses, munitions and victuals, for any 
power of men that shall be sent thither. 

* I doe speak it on my soul's health, as the best 
testimonie that I can in any case yield to averre a 
truth, that having been now the second time in this 
countrey, and v/ith the helpes of time and leisure well 
advised myself upon all circumstances to be thought 
of, I can discern no competant impediment, but that 
with a sufficient number of men, Her Majesty may, 
and her successors, enjoy this rich and great empire ; 
and having once planted there, may for ever (with 
the favour of God) holde and keepe it contra 'Judceos 
et Gentes.^ He points out that the enterprise might 
easily be effected by '• adventurers,' but that that 
course would bring no permanent benefit to the 
nation, for they, he says, would return home with 
gold, and care nothing for holding the place as a 
colony for the English crown. 

Kemys's account is prefaced by a long, fervid poem 
to the same effect, two or three stanzas of which 
may be quoted to show how earnestly Ralegh de- 
sired the Queen to accept Guiana as an English 
colony, Kemys's narrative, like his voyage, of course, 
being inspired by his master. 

' Guiana, ivhose rich seat are iniiics of gold ^ 
Whose forehead knockes against the roofe of stars ; 



SIR WALTER RALEGH i8i 

Stands on her tiptoes at fair England looking^ 
Kissing her hand, halving her mighty breast ,• 
And every sign of all sub?nission making, 
To he her sister, and her daughter both. 
Of our most sacred maide. , , . 

' Then, most admired sovereign, let your breath 
Goe forth upon the "waters and create 
A golden ivorld in this our yron age^ 

A fervent appeal is made to the belief and courage 
of prospective adventurers in the golden promises 
held out to them, but care is taken to make it 
clear that gold is not the only thing to be thought 
of, and that work and livelihood await any number 
of colonists who may go thither, ' where learning doth 
not eat its thriftless books, nor valour consume its 
useless arms.' 

' But all our youth take Hymen^s lights in hand 
And Jill each roofe ivith honoured progenie, 

' And there do palaces and temples rise 
Out of the earth and kiss enamoured skies, 
fVhere neiu Britannia humbly kneels to heaven. 
The luorld to her, and both at her blest feet. 
In luhom the circles of all empires meet.' 

But it was all of no avail. Mismanagement and 
parsimony had brought to a disastrous end Drake and 
Hawkins's last expedition to the West Indies. Both 
great sailors had died broken-hearted, and once more 
for a brief season it seemed as if the naval supremacy 
of Spain was to be reasserted. The operations of the 
League had given Philip a footing in northern France, 



i82 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

with possession of the port of Blavet in Brittany, 
whence the invasion of England might be undertaken. 
Spanish aid had already been promised to Tyrone in 
Ireland, and English spies were reporting great naval 
preparations in various Spanish ports. The capacity 
for harm of Philip at the time we know now to have 
been very small indeed, but thanks in part to the 
bombastic boasting of his own officers, an exaggerated 
fear of Spain again took possession of the English. 
For a considerable time the traitor Antonio Perez had 
been living with Essex, endeavouring to inflame him, 
and through him Elizabeth, into offensive warfare 
against his deadly enemy Philip. Essex never required 
much urging in such a case, but Elizabeth hesitated 
long before she openly committed herself to a change 
of policy from that which had served her so well. 
Ralegh, with Guiana always in his mind, was anxious 
to cripple Spain to an extent which should make her 
powerless to send forces to the Orinoco, and this 
identity of views for once drew the two rivals together. 
It was decided to fit out a fleet of ninety-six sail which 
were joined by twenty-four Dutch ships, the number 
of men being in all 16,600 ; the Lord Admiral 
Howard being in supreme command at sea, and 
Essex on land, an arrangement which very nearly 
brought about the failure of the expedition, old 
Howard protesting against it, as he said he was ' only 
to be used as a drag.' Orders were sent early in April 
for levies of men to be made in the counties, but the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 183 

ink on the orders was scarcely dry before the Queen 
changed her mind, and countermanded them, and 
thenceforward for weeks hardly a day passed without 
some new resolution being arrived at, Essex the while 
fuming and raging to an extent which made him lose 
respect for the Queen, Elizabeth, it is plain, 
dreaded the capture of any important Spanish city. 
This would have been an embarrassment to her, and, 
as she pointed out, would not bring her any profit, as 
the soldiers would get out of hand and plunder on 
their own account. What she desired, and in this she 
was all through earnestly seconded by Ralegh, was to 
strike a decisive blow at Spain's navy. The English 
pressed men had no stomach for the job, and it was 
only with the greatest difficulty that the force could 
be got together. Ralegh was to organise a squadron 
in the Thames, and take it round to Plymouth to join 
the rest of the fleet, but was delayed by head winds 
and other causes, whereupon, as usual, his enemies 
began to cavil. Anthony Bacon, Essex's hanger-on, 
more ungenerous than his master, hinted that Ralegh 
was lingering for a dishonest purpose of his own. 
Ralegh wrote a letter on the 4th May from North- 
fleet to Cecil, in which it is clear that he had heard 
these rumours. 'As fast as wee press men one day, 
they come away another and say they will not serve. 
... I cannot write to our Generalls att this tyme, 
for the pursevant found me in a countre villag a mile 
from Gravesend honting after runaway mariners, and 



1 84 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

dragging in the mire from ale-house to ale-house, and 
could gett no paper, butt that the pursevant had this 
peece. 

'Sir, by the living God, there is nor King nor 
Oueen nor general nor any elce can take more care 
than I do to be gonn. Butt I humblie pray yow butt 
to speak with Mr Borrough, and lett hyme be sent 
for afterward before my Lorde Chamberlayne, that 
they may hear hyme speak whether any man can gett 
down with this wind or no ; which will satisfy them 
of me.' 

At length the force was collected and sailed from 
Plymouth Sound on the 3rd June. There were four 
English squadrons, one of which with twenty-two ships 
from the Thames was under the command of Ralegh 
as Vice-Admiral, the Dutch fleet being under Maurice 
of Nassau. A council of war was appointed to 
advise Essex and Howard, consisting of Ralegh and 
Lord Thomas Howard, for the navy, and Sir Conyers 
Clifford, Sir George Carew and Sir Francis Vere for 
the troops. Philip was usually well served by his 
spies in English ports, but on this occasion they gave 
him but inadequate and tardy information, for the 
men on the fleet itself were ignorant of its destina- 
tion ; and at dawn on the 20th June, the affrighted 
citizens of Cadiz beheld the fleet in the offing. 
Cadiz was the richest city in Spain, the port whither 
the silver ships of the Indies brought their precious 
freight. The defences of the place were old and 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 185 

crumbling, the guns obsolete, and the fighting men 
few. That the English should await the flotilla 
from the Indies, that it should pounce upon the 
Azores, was known to be not improbable ; but that 
an overwhelmingly powerful fleet like this should 
come to Cadiz itself had not been anticipated, and 
the people were taken by surprise. Under the surf- 
beaten walls of the harbour there lay a fleet of eight 
war galleys, their prows towards the entrance ; further 
in there were six great galleons, and eleven frigates 
of war, with forty cargo ships behind them loading 
for New Spain, with three strongly armed ships to 
convoy them on their voyage. 

Whilst the main body of the English fleet anchored 
in the bay of S* Sebastian, a mile and a half from Cadiz, 
Ralegh's squadron was sent round the western or Rota 
side of the bay of Cadiz to intercept any ships that 
attempted to escape either from there or from San 
Lucar. In his absence, a council of war was called by 
the Lord Admiral, and the movement amongst the 
English ships in consequence was construed by the 
watching Spaniards into fear of the formidable array 
of Spanish ships in the bay. The Lord Admiral, 
whose experience of actual warfare was small, was 
always on the side of prudence, and apparently was 
also undesirous of venturing into the harbour under 
the combined fire of the ships and the forts. He 
agreed with Essex that the town should be attacked 
and captured first, and the shipping dealt with after- 



1 86 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

wards. A heavy southerly swell was rolling, and when 
Ralegh arrived to attend the council, two hours after 
the rest, he found Essex embarking his troops in boats 
to land and attack the town on the west side. The 
manoeuvre was a most dangerous one ; several boat- 
loads of men were swamped before they left the side, 
and Ralegh was horrified at the blunder which was 
about to be committed. To have desisted at his sole 
representation after the council of war had decided, 
would have looked like fear on the part of Essex. 
Rash and injudicious as the latter was, however, he 
knew that Ralegh had a greater and more varied 
experience of fighting and navigation than all the 
rest of the council put together, and agreed that, if 
Ralegh came on board his ship and protested formally 
in presence of the Colonels against the decision, 
giving reasons why the course proposed might lead 
to the destruction of the whole force, he, Essex, 
would desist. It was all the Lord Admiral's fault, 
he said, who would not enter the harbour until 
the town had been secured. The experienced 
officers on the fleet coincided with Ralegh's views, 
and with difficulty the Lord Admiral was at last 
persuaded. It was evening now ; and as Ralegh's 
barge passed Essex's ship on his way from his 
interview with Howard, the young Earl, eager 
for action as usual, whether on sea or land, 
was awaiting on his deck the news of the chiefs 
decision. Ralegh shouted in Spanish as he passed 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 187 

that the fleet was to enter, and Essex, full of exalta- 
tion, waved his plumed hat around his head and 
cast it into the sea with a cheer of delight. 

On land, the women and non-combatants had 
crowded into the citadel, and the men who flocked 
in from the outskirts were hastily armed. The Duke 
of Medina Sidonia, Governor of Andalucia, was at his 
house at San Lucar, but was summoned in all haste, 
whilst the Admiral in command, Diego de Sotomayor, 
put his ships in order of battle. But Philip's rigid 
system of centralisation had sapped the initiative 
of his officers everywhere. They were so accus- 
tomed to be minutely directed from the Escorial, 
that when they were thrown upon their own resources 
they were at a loss. Medina Sidonia was a broken 
reed to lean upon — it was the same poor-spirited 
simpleton who had lost the Armada — but even he 
was absent until far into the night, and only arrived 
in time to record minutely the successive stages of 
the disaster. 

On the English fleet Ralegh was tacitly admitted 
in the moment of danger to be the natural leader. 
Both Howard and Essex claimed the honour of leading 
the van, and the matter was disputed for hours ; as in 
the case of Drake and Norris at Lisbon in 1589 a 
divided command always led to trouble. At length 
it was decided that Ralegh should lead the advance- 
guard, despite the protestations of Lord Thomas 
Howard. Ralegh's ship, the Warsprlte^ was to be 



1 88 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

followed by the Mary Rose^ under his cousin and 
friend, Sir George Carew, the Rainbow y under Sir 
Francis Vere, the Lion^ under Sir Robert Southwell, 
the Dreadnought^ under Sir Conyers Clifford, and the 
Nonpareil^ under Robert Dudley. Lord Admiral 
Howard, Essex, and Lord Thomas Howard were to 
command the main body of the fleet in the rear of 
Ralegh's squadron, but Lord Thomas was determined 
to be first if he could, and during the night induced 
Robert Dudley to change ships with him, in the hope 
that in the confusion he might push ahead of Ralegh. 
The latter was equally determined that he should not ; 
and at the first streak of dawn he gave the signal and 
got under way with a good start before all the others. 
During the night he had sent to the Lord Admiral 
his views as to how the attack should be effected. He 
had, as usual, a keen eye to the main chance, and 
foresaw that the Spaniards would burn their ships 
rather than surrender them, and in order to prevent 
this induced the Lord Admiral to appoint two large 
fly-boats to board the great galleons, after the big guns 
on the English fleet had done their work. The 
entrance to the harbour was commanded by the guns 
of the forts, and the galleys were ranged just inside. 
The JVarsprite^ well ahead of the squadron, bore the 
brunt of the fire, but disdained to notice ' the wasps,' 
except by a derisive flourish of trumpets for each dis- 
charge. Metal more attractive than galleys was before 
Ralegh's eager eyes. Straight ahead of him were the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 189 

four greatest galleons in Philip's fleet, and foremost 
of them was that towering San Felipe and the San 
Andres that had attacked the Revenge four years before. 
' The San Felipe^ the great and famous admiral of 
Spain, was the mark I shot at . . . being resolved to 
be revenged for the Revenge^ or to second her with 
mine own life.' Gallant Grenville was not forgotten 
by his kinsman, and the hour of vengeance had come. 
It had been decided by Sotomayor that, if the English 
should enter in force, the Spanish war ships should 
withdraw to the narrow channel between the castle of 
Matagorda and Puntales, to prevent the English from 
penetrating the inner harbour of Puerto Real, where 
there lay the Indian flotilla with cargoes worth eight 
millions of ducats. It was an unfortunate decision 
for the Spaniards, adopted at the instance of the re- 
presentative of the merchants of Seville, to whom the 
cargoes belonged, for it left the city of Cadiz at the 
mercy of the enemy. Like a bridge across the channel 
stretched the four great galleons of Spain, two of 
Portugal, three argosies and three frigates, the rest 
of the war-ships being formed in a second line of 
defence behind them. Straight as a hawk upon its 
quarry went the Warsprite to the San Felipe^ disdain- 
ing to fire a gun at those who sought to stop her. 
Ralegh anchored on the north or Matagorda side of the 
galleon, between her and the San Andres^ the Lyon 
shortly afterwards anchoring close by him, whilst the 
Dreadnought and the Mary Rose took up their positions 



190 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

on the south or Puntales side of the San Felipe. Then 
for three hours they pounded away point blank at each 
other, * as two butts.' At ten o'clock in the morning 
Essex could keep out of the fray no longer, and in 
defiance of all arrangements, pushed ahead through the 
fleet till he came to Ralegh's side. ' Always,' says 
Sir Walter, ' I must without glory say for myself, that 
I held single in the head of all.' Meanwhile the fly- 
boats for boarding came not, and Ralegh, losing 
patience, was determined to wait no longer, but to 
board from the Queen's ships, in defiance of his own 
plans. But Essex was his senior in command, and he 
sought to obtain his permission to do this. He hastily 
went on board the Swiftsure^ the Earl's flagship, for 
the purpose. ' It is the same loss to burn or sink,' he 
said, 'and I must endure one or the other' — for 
the JVarsprite was riddled with cannon shot. Essex 
tried to dissuade him, not very earnestly we may be 
sure, but when he found ' it was not in his power to 
command fear, he told me that whatsoever I did, he 
would second me in person ; upon his honour.' Dur- 
ing Ralegh's short absence from his ship jealous Vere 
pushed the Rainbow ahead of her, and Lord Thomas, 
envious in his turn, thrusting forward the Nonpareil^ 
with the Lord Admiral himself on board, tried to get 
in front of him. When Ralegh returned to the 
JVarsprite^ 'from being first he found himself to be 
but third.' This he could not brook, so, forcing his 
ship between the other two, he went right ahead, and 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 191 

lay across the channeL ' I was very sure that none 
would outstart me again for that day ' — and none did, 
although Vere made another attempt by secretly 
fastening a hawser to the Warsprhe s side, ' when we 
were all too busy to look behind us,' and began hauling 
himself abreast of Ralegh's ship ; ' but some of my 
company advertising me thereof I caused it to be cut, 
and so he fell back into his place. I guarded him, all 
but his very prow, from the sight of the enemy.' 
Ralegh was sternly determined that not even Vere 
should baulk him of his vengeance upon the San Felipe. 
As soon as he was again face to face with his foe, 
he laid a warp on board of her and began hauling 
alongside ; the Repulse on the other side did the same, 
and the Nonpareil likewise. 'This -was the last straw. 
A hideous panic seized the Spaniards. They slipped 
their cables, ran on the mud, for the channel is very 
narrow, and ' tumbled into the sea heaps of souldiers, 
so thick as if coals had been powred out of a sack, 
in many ports at once ; some drowned, some sticking 
in the mud.' The San Felipe and the San To?nas 
were fired by their crews, the San Mateo and the 
San Andres were captured by Ralegh. *■ The 
spectacle,' says Ralegh, ' was a very lamentable one ; 
for many drowned themselves ; many, half burnt, 
leapt into the water ; very many hanging by ropes' 
ends by the ships' side under water, even to the 
lips ; many swimming with grievous wounds, stricken 
under water, and put out of their pain ; and withal 



192 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

so huge a fire and such tearing of the ordnance 
of the great PhiHp, and the rest, when the fire came 
to them, as if any man had a desire to see hell itself, 
it was there most lively figured. We spared the 
lives of all after the victory ; but the Flemings, 
w^ho did little or nothing in the fight, used merciless 
slaughter, till they v^^ere beaten off by myself, and 
afterwards by the Lord Admiral.' 

This is Ralegh's account, and in the main is 
confirmed by other English and Spanish eye- 
witnesses. Medina Sidonia, writing from Puerto 
Real to the King, says that the engagement lasted 
four hours, and that the galleons went aground by 
accident, as they were trying to retire further up 
the harbour, and this is most likely what happened. 
The channel, as has been observed, is very narrow, 
and doubtless Sotomayor would have liked to lure 
the English out of it on to the mud. 

By the early afternoon the bay of Cadiz was won. 
Such of the smaller Spanish ships as had escaped 
destruction were taken up towards Puerto Real, 
burning all the merchant vessels they came across, 
to prevent them from falling into the hands of the 
English. Soon the Spanish crews got out of hand. 
All discipline was lost ; pillage and flight alone 
occupied their minds, and all thought of further 
naval defence was abandoned. In the meanwhile 
the English troops were rapidly landed to attack the 
town. The Spanish regular garrison was a very 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 193 

small one, only 150 men, but there were 5000 
armed citizens fit for fighting, and a body of 
600 or 800 horsemen had ridden over from 
Jerez to their aid. Essex was the first to land, 
and Ralegh, though badly wounded in the leg, 
insisted upon being carried ashore, and so quickly 
were the boat-loads of eager Englishmen landed and 
drawn up, that by the time the cavaliers from Jerez 
could muster, Essex's force was too strong to be 
repulsed. One charge was attempted, but a volley of 
musketry put the Spanish horsemen to flight. Pell- 
mell back to the city they fled. The citizens, in a 
panic, were afraid to open the gates to them, for 
the English followed them hotly. Xhe horses were 
abandoned, and the men scaled the outer glacis at 
a point where the walls were crumbling and could 
be surmounted. If the Spaniards could surmount 
them, so could the English lads who were press- 
ing in pursuit, and soon thousands of Essex's troops 
were sv/arming and tumbling over the defences 
into the town. The townspeople, such of them as 
had not taken refuge in the citadel, were panic- 
stricken. A little desultory fighting in the streets 
from the flat roofs of the houses and a last tussel 
in the market-place, and Cadiz was at the mercy of 
Essex and his men. As soon as the fighting ceased, 
the Lord Admiral and all the principal officers, with 
Ralegh borne in his litter, entered the market-place, 
preceded by Sir Edward Hoby, bearing the standard 

N 



194 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

of England, to receive with Essex the capitulation 
of the city. Submission, complete and abject, was 
given by the inhabitants. Forty hostages were sent 
on board the ships to secure the payment of 120,000 
crowns ransom for the lives of the people, which 
ransom was never paid, and the poor hostages were 
taken to England. All the rich merchandise in the 
town, with 40,000 ducats in cash, were to be spoil in 
war, and the inhabitants were to evacuate the place 
with only the clothes on their back, ' in order that 
the sacking might be the more complete.' The 
authorities of the city were paralysed. Poor Medina 
Sidonia could only wail to far-ofF Philip of the 
completeness of the catastrophe. ' Nor ships, nor 
fleet, nor Cadiz remains,' he wrote. All Andalucia 
was in danger. There were only 800 men, some 
without arms, in Port S^ Mary's. 'I have 3000 
countrymen in Jerez,' wrote the Duke, * but I have 
no arms for them. . . . This is shameful ! I said 
how necessary it was to send me men and money, 
and I have not even received an answer from Your 
Majesty, so I am at my wit's end now, and can 
only await Your Majesty's orders.' To this had 
Philip's life-long attempt to rule the world from a 
writing-table reduced the boasted naval supremacy of 
Spain. Almost the only man in Cadiz who was equal 
to an emergency was the Jesuit Father Quesada. 
He organised the exodus of women and children from 
the doomed city, clamoured successfully to the victors 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 195 

for tood, help and protection for the nuns and women 
who were shelterless and starving. Food they could 
not have, for the victors themselves were well nigh 
famished, but all else that brave men could do to. 
help the innocent vanquished was done by Essex 
and his men. The Spaniards themselves bore grate- 
ful witness to their moderation. The moment 
resistance ceased, slaughter also ceased. No woman 
was molested, no personal insult offered. For two 
days the citadel held out, its inhabitants living on 
water alone. The obselete old guns burst at the 
second or third discharge ; help, the defenders knew, 
could not reach them, and then they gave in. For 
sixteen days the city of Cadiz underwent a syste- 
matic sack. Father Quesada had aided to conceal 
the valuables of a few churches and private citizens, 
but apart from that, everything destructible was 
destroyed, even to the gratings before the windows, 
and then the city and its cathedrals^were burnt, all 
of them that the flames would consume. 

As soon as the city had capitulated on the night 
of the 20th June, Ralegh, suffering agony from his 
wound, was carried on board the IVarsprite. He 
knew that once the men were allowed to fall to 
pillage, then all hope of the capture of the rich 
Indian fleet up the harbour at j^uerto Real was gone, 
and by daybreak the next morning he sent his 
brother. Sir John Gilbert, and Lady Ralegh's brother, 
Sir Arthur Throgmorton, ashore, to beg the com- 



196 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

manders for permission to take his squadron up to 
Puerto Real and secure the rich booty — a booty so 
rich that it might have induced the Queen to smile 
upon his plea for Guiana. But the confusion of 
plunder had already begun and the two commanders 
hesitated ; for the English ships were well nigh 
abandoned, and they were not sure of the force that 
might yet be brought against them. Whilst they 
were hesitating, the opportunity slipped away. In 
the afternoon the representatives of the Seville 
merchants came and offered a ransom of 2,000,000 
ducats for the fleet, which was refused. ' We came,' 
said the Lord Admiral, ' to consume, not to com- 
pound.' Ralegh would have been willing enough to 
compound for a great ransom, but he thought they 
would get better terms if they secured the ships 
first, before they were burnt by the Spaniards them- 
selves. Essex, for his part, was for ^capturing Puerto 
Real and the ships with his soldiers, for he was no 
lover of the sea or sailors. Before they could make 
up their minds, Medina Sidonia, with the energy 
of despair, ordered every Spanish ship to be burnt. 
Such rich merchandise as could be carried ashore 
was hurriedly rescued ; and then the great Indian 
fleet of forty ships, galleons, frigates, argosies and 
emigrant ships for Guiana, over fifty sail in all, were 
soon a mass of blazing ruin. 

Ralegh was discontented, of course, with his share 
of the plunder of Cadiz. Les absents ont toujours tort^ 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 197 

and his wound kept him prisoner on board of his ship. 
'Some' {i.e., English officers) 'had for their prisoners 
20,000 ducats, some 10,000, besides great houses of 
merchandise ' — whereas, he says, all his share was 
a lame leg, and poverty and pain. 

As a matter of fact, in the official inventory of 
the spoil made after the return to England, he 
appears to have received ^1769, whilst Vere got 
^3628, and of the two great galleons, which he him- 
self captured, Ralegh got no share of prize money. 
As usually happened when the command was divided, 
there had been jealousy amongst the officers from the 
first ; Essex's unjust partiality for the soldiers in the 
division of the spoil accentuated the differences; and 
between Vere and Ralegh particularly the bitter 
feeling continued, though Ralegh's generous tribute 
to Essex's gallantry and magnanimity in the struggle 
shows that his great heart could soar above small 
jealousies. 

On the 5th the men were re-embarked on the 
fleet, and Cadiz was left behind, a heap of ruins. 
Essex would have retained possession of the place, 
but cooler heads said no. They knew that the 
Queen wished to cripple her foe ; but to have held 
a principal port of enemy's country far away from 
England would have crippled her. They called 
into the port of Faro, and, amongst other things, 
looted, and brought to England, the library of the 
Bishop of the Algarves, Geronimo Osorio, and then 



198 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

sailed for England. Ralegh suffered much from his 
wound, and a pestilence had broken out on board 
of his ship. He therefore hastened back to 
Plymouth in advance of the rest of the fleet, and 
arrived in England on the 6th August, bringing for 
the first time authentic details of the action, v^^hich 
had made patent to the w^orld that Spain w^as im- 
potent and that England was mistress of the sea. 

When Drake had sailed into Cadiz harbour and 
burnt the ships there in 1587, Philip said that it was 
not the material loss he cared about, but the daring 
insolence of the action. No attempt on that occasion 
had been made to land ; it was a simple naval coup de 
main by the greatest sailor afloat. But the sacking 
of Cadiz in 1596 was a very different matter. Not 
only was the richest port in Spain captured and pil- 
laged with impunity, but thirteen of the best ships in 
the Spanish navy, and forty laden Indiamen had been 
destroyed. There had been hardly an attempt even 
at organised defence. The Duke of Medina Sidonia 
could only moan helplessly that he had no money, 
no arms, no soldiers, and that for months together 
his letters to the King remained unanswered. Philip, 
old and broken - hearted, was nearing his grave. 
Disaster had dogged his leaden footsteps from youth 
to age ; for the rigid unadaptability of his admin- 
istration, the fatuous belief that he, a man of 
meditation, could move men of action the world 
over, like puppets, from his desk, and that events 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 199 

would stand still whilst he was pondering, had 
brought his country to the last stage of destitution 
and impotence. The invincible Armada had suc- 
cumbed to the incompetence of its leader and the 
hazard of the winds ; the attempt had been a great 
one, and the loss was not irreparable. But the 
catastrophe of Cadiz showed to what an extent the 
country had declined in the intervening eight years. 
Dry rot had entered into the heart of the nation ; 
its virility had been drained ; its vigour was gone, 
and the sceptre of the sea had slipped from its nerve- 
less grasp. The truth that Ralegh had been dinning 
into the ears of his countrymen for years was patent 
now to all the world. English ships and English 
seamen were more than a match for all the Spaniards 
afloat. 



CHAPTER X 

THE EXPEDITION TO THE AZORES UNDER ESSEX- 
DISGRACE OF ESSEX — Ralegh's action with 

REGARD TO ESSEX ROBERT CECIL AND ESSEX 

EXECUTION OF ESSEX CECIL AND RALEGH 

Ralegh and Essex arrived in London at about the 
same time, but only the latter was admitted to see 
the Queen. The populace had once more been 
stirred by the stories of the sack of Cadiz, and those 
who took part in it, particularly Essex, were made 
popular heroes. An enormous amount of unregis- 
tered booty had fallen into the hands of officers and 
men of all ranks, and tales were rife through London 
of the plate and jewels, the bags of doubloons, the 
silks, the velvets, and the costly tapestry hangings, 
that had been brought home surreptitiously. This 
was exactly what the Queen had foretold when she 
objected to the capture of any Spanish towns, and 
she gave full rein to her greed and ill-humour when 
she saw her prediction had come true. At least, she 
could claim all the hostages, and the two galleons 

200 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 201 

brought home. With regard to the first she had a 
long and undignified squabble with Essex, in which, 
she was, of course, finally victorious ; and with regard 
to the prize money for the galleons also she had her 
way, though greatly to the indignation of the Lord 
Admiral and the rest of the officers whose claims 
were thus set aside. She did not scruple to apply 
the epithets of ' coward ' and ' miscreant ' to her great 
minister Burghley, the Lord Treasurer, who ventured 
to remonstrate with her on the subject. 

Though Ralegh, in his despondent fashion, com- 
plained that his only reward had been pain and penury 
and a lame leg, he had the satisfaction in a few 
months of once more being allowed to bask in the 
smiles of the goddess, from' whose side he had been 
banished since his marriage five years before. His 
praise of Essex and the reconciliation between the 
latter and Sir Robert Cecil, no doubt, greatly pleased 
the Queen, though she continued to affect dis- 
pleasure with her young favourite about the booty of 
Cadiz ; and the squabbles and reconciliations between 
them were ceaseless. Though he had somewhat 
sulkily made friends with him, it is certain that Essex 
himself was not anxious for Ralegh to be taken into 
full favour again. During May 1597 Ralegh was 
daily about the Court, and at last, on the ist June, 
when Essex had gone to Chatham to be out of the 
way, Sir Robert Cecil brought Sir Walter into the 
Queen's presence. She received him graciously, and 



202 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

gave him permission once more to perform his duties 
as Captain of the Guard. He lost no time ; it had all 
been arranged beforehand ; he filled up the vacant 
places in the ranks, once more donning his splendid 
uniform and silver armour, that same evening he 
rode by the Queen's side, and thenceforward had the 
entrance to the privy chamber, as in the days of his 
highest favour. From his first appearance at Court, 
Essex had bitterly opposed the Cecils ; and after 
Walsingham's death had persistently urged the Queen 
to give the post of Secretary of State to that cruelly 
ill-used man William Davison or to Sir Thomas 
Bodley. The aged Lord Burghley was determined 
that the office should fall to his favourite second son 
Robert Cecil, and during the absence of Essex at 
Cadiz, Cecil had been appointed. On the return of 
the young favourite to Court he found the new 
Secretary all smiles and cordiality, and for months 
Ralegh, Essex and Cecil were apparently the best of 
friends. Cecil was a man who was determined to 
swim, let who would sink. His own keen self- 
seeking was seconded by the vast experience and 
great intellect of his father ; and it is in the highest 
degree improbable that his new friendship for Essex, 
who had always opposed him, had any other object 
but his own advantage. The pride and obstinacy of 
the young favourite were deeply resented by the 
Queen herself, as were his constant and turbulent 
attempts to drag her into acts of aggression against 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 203 

Spain, The Cecils had always advocated a policy 
of moderation, the triumphant policy which had 
enabled Elizabeth for nearly forty years to bleed her 
enemy to exhaustion, without once bringing upon 
her country the united opposition of all the Catholic 
powers. If Robert Cecil now turned round and did 
his best to fan Essex's warlike ardour, we may be 
sure that he did not do so for the advantage of Essex. 
How far Cecil's friendship for Ralegh, who had always 
been on his side, was sincere, we shall have occasion 
to consider later, but Ralegh, at least, had reason to 
question it ; and we shall be doing no violent injustice 
to Cecil's memory if we conclude that the one person 
intended to be benefited was Robert Cecil himself. 
Certain it is, that everything that the new Secretary 
could do to urge upon Essex fresh warlike adventure 
which should keep him away from Court, and incur 
expenditure, without return to the Queen, was done. 
When, therefore, rumours reached England that the 
King of Spain would make a supreme effort to revenge 
the insult of Cadiz, both Ralegh and Essex were 
encouraged in their proposal for once more anticipat- 
ing the possible blow by striking at Philip's own 
dominions. We know now that the Spanish King 
was utterly unable to fit out an expedition to attack 
England, except in the form of some quite inadequate 
aid to the Irish rebels ; and probably Cecil was fully 
aware of this at the time, but public opinion was 
excited and had no means of gauging exactly the 



204 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

depth of Philip's purse. Ralegh wrote a discourse at 
the time, called Opinion upon the Spanish Alarum^ in 
which he expressed his incredulity of the probability 
of an attack in force from Spain, but still advocated 
the advisability of being prepared for the worst, by 
providing for the defence of the coasts. A fleet of 
ten ships of war was hastily put into commission, but as 
the news came of the great preparations being made at 
Ferrol by the Adelantado of Castile to invade Ireland, 
the fleet was increased to twenty sail of the Queen's 
ships, with a large number of victuallers, and ten 
Dutch men-of-war. Probably no one in England 
knew then, as we know now, that the Adelantado was 
wearing his heart out in despair at his inability to 
get a fit force together, even to help the Irish Catholics. 
Hopeless muddle and confusion reigned supreme at 
Ferrol and Corunna. Money, men, arms, ammuni- 
tion and ships were all lacking ; corruption, inepti- 
tude and impotence were everywhere ; whilst the 
King, far away in his cell, wrote letters by the hundred 
about petty details, and insisted upon the sending to 
him of reports, and ever more reports, each one more 
bombastic than the last, until the bluff Adelantado 
blurted out the truth. There was no more real 
danger to England from Philip now ; only England 
did not know it. It was decided that the English 
fleet of about 120 sail in all, with 5000 soldiers on 
board, should sail for Galicia, and, if possible, destroy 
the Adelantado's fleet. The Lord Admiral was ill 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 205 

and sulky at the Queen's conduct about the Cadiz 
plunder, and declined the command, which was 
given to Essex, with Lord Thomas Howard and 
Ralegh, as his Vice and Rear Admirals respectively. 
Lord Mountjoy was under Essex to command the 
troops, much to the envy of Vere, who fell out with 
his patron and chief about it, and swore never again 
to serve under him. 

The expedition sailed from Plymouth on the 19th 
July, but was scattered and driven back by a storm in 
the Bay of Biscay in much suffering and danger, and 
for the next month it was held wind-bound. Li 
the meanwhile, sickness broke out, provisions went 
bad, and discontent became rife. ,Essex and Ralegh 
posted togetlier from Plymouth to London, and the 
former used all his persuasions with the Queen to be 
allowed to proceed as soon as his ships were refitted 
and the wind served. The season was advanced, 
however, the enemy on the alert, and the Queen 
refused to have her ships and men exposed to risk. 
Only after much hesitation she consented to some 
fire-ships being sent into Feri^ol harbour, with the 
two captured Spanish galleons from Cadiz and some 
merchantmen, to burn the Spanish fleet ; but on no 
account was any attempt to be made upon land, for 
the English troops were to be left in England, and, 
above all, Essex was made to promise that he would 
remain with the Queen's shpis outside, and take no 
personal part in the operations. The daring task was 



2o6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

entrusted to Ralegh. Dviring his absence in London 
his famous ship the Roebuck ran aground at Ply- 
mouth and was disabled, with other vessels, and when 
finally, on the 17th August, the fleet sailed, without 
the troops, it was much smaller than had originally 
been intended. Once more they were caught in a 
furious westerly gale in the Bay of Biscay, and both 
of the captured Spanish galleons were disabled, the 
San Mateo finding her way back to England. The 
easterly wind, that finally enabled them to get out of 
the bay, prevented them from approaching Ferrol, and 
they were driven towards the south, along the coast 
of Portugal. All the countrv was aroused by this 
time, for Essex imprudently kept near enough to the 
coast to be seen, and the loss of the San Mateo had 
convinced the officers that the attempt on Ferrol 
must be abandoned. Ralegh's ship, the Warsprite^ 
broke her main yard - arm, and was delayed for two 
days ; he and the rest of his squadron with the Dutch 
soldiers on board went astray from the fleet ; and then 
a series of misunderstandings kept him waiting off" the 
coast of Portugal, whilst Essex and the main body 
sailed for the Azores for the purpose of intercepting 
the homeward bound Indian fleet. Ralegh's enemies 
tried to persuade Essex that he had wilfully deserted 
and left him in the lurch ; but to Essex's credit he 
refused to listen to the slander, and told Ralegh that 
he knew it came ' from their cankered and scandalous 
disposition.' At length, greatly to the joy of Essex, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 207 

who for several clays had been lying ofF Flores, the 
scene of the memorable fight of the Revenge^ Ralegh 
and his ships joined him, and the fleet was re-united. 
False information had been conveyed to them that the 
Adelantado's fleet had slipped out of Ferrol, and had 
sailed for the Azores to escort the Indiamen ; but 
they found now that they had been deceived, and it 
was proposed to attack and lay waste the various 
islands, which were the principal rendezvous for the 
Spanish flotillas ; and after they had successfully dealt 
with the smaller islands in separate squadrons to 
re-unite and attack Terceira, which was notoriously 
disaffected to the Spanish garrison. Whilst Ralegh 
and several officers of his squadron were making 
an excursion in the interior of Flores, and his 
men were busy watering the ships, he suddenly re- 
ceived a message from Essex that he was immedi- 
ately sailing to attack Fayal, and that Ralegh and 
his ships were to join them there without loss of 
time. Ralegh hurried after his chief, and arrived 
off Fayal the next morning, but could see nothing 
of Essex. They found the town in a position 
of defence, the non - combatants and valuables 
being hastily sent into the interior, the forts fully 
manned, and the beach lined with soldiers to dispute 
a landing. Without waiting for hostilities from 
Ralegh, they opened fire upon him, though they did 
him but little damage. This was more than English 
human nature could well stand, and the men on board 



2o8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

became clamorous to attack the island. It was clear, 
if they were to get any return for the voyage at all, 
this was their chance, for the main object of the 
expedition had evidently been frustrated. But still 
Essex came not, and Ralegh hesitated to act without 
his chier's orders. Some of Essex's sycophants, like 
Sir Gilly Merrick, strongly opposed any action in the 
absence of the chief commanders. On the fourth day 
it was decided to land a few boat-loads of men on the 
north-west of the island, some miles from the town, 
to obtain water, which they had been unable to do in 
sufficient quantity at Flores, but a large force of 
armed islanders occupied trenches on the shore, and 
defied them to land. Both Ralegh and his men had 
lost patience at the undignified position they had 
been occupying for the last three days, and he 
determined to read the islanders a lesson, ' and either 
gain our landing or a beating.' He therefore decided 
to land a force of about i6o sailors and lOO soldiers 
from his own ships. As he and his little force rowed 
through his squadron on his way to the shore, his 
captains shouted to him to take some of the Dutch 
soldiers with him, as his force was too small. He 
replied that he did not know for what service the 
Commander-in-chief intended them, and therefore 
only took sailors and his own men. Fully double 
the number of enemies awaited them on the beach, 
and the landing-place had been fortified by two long 
trenches, which enfiladed a narrow passage by which 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 209 

the assailants had to pass. Ralegh's force ran in 
rapidly, under the protection of some artillery which 
he had brought on two pinnaces, but at the landing- 
place his men blenched. He scornfully shouted a 
rebuke to them, and caused his own barge to be 
rowed full upon the rocky beach. He and the 
gentlemen led the way, breast high in the surf, under 
a heavy fire, and successfully stormed the trenches. 
Panic seized the defenders, who fled in confusion, 
throwing away their arms and seeking refuge in 
the woods. Some of Ralegh's men were killed, 
more were drowned, and two of his long boats were 
sunk ; but his loss was a small one considering the 
end effected. Drawing now a larger force from his 
ships, he advanced 500 strong to attack the-chief town, 
Villa Dorta, four miles off j Ralegh himself leading, 
wearing no armour but a gorget. The place was 
defended by a fort, which received them warmly, and 
the Dutchmen seemed inclined to waver. Ralegh 
and his 40 gentlemen marched on 250 yards ahead, 
scaled the slope, and then, seeing the Dutchmen 
slowly straggling up, he called out to know whether 
' this was the manner of Low Country troops, to show 
such base cowardice at the first sight of the enemy ? ' 
The fort was soon abandoned by the defenders, but 
another fort on the summit of a high rocky hill still 
existed. Ralegh found none of his men willing to 
reconnoitre this place, and indignantly undertook to 
do so himself and alone. His cousin, Sir Arthur 

o 



2IO BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Gorges, and about lo of his personal followers in- 
sisted upon accompanying him, and the undaunted 
dozen toiled up the hill, full in face of the enemy's 
fire, Ralegh wearing a white scarf, and Gorges a red 
one. Ralegh's garments were pierced by bullets in 
three places, Gorges got a shot through his leg, two 
of the men were killed outright, and several more 
wounded ; but before a regular attack of the fort 
could be made, the defenders fled, and the town itself 
was also found deserted. He was thus master of the 
whole island, with a loss of lO men killed and 20 
wounded ; and the lesson which he deduces from the 
action in an episodical reference to it in the History 
of the World is that a country cannot prevent an 
enemy's fleet from landing its army without as good 
a fleet to oppose it, a lesson he was never tired of 
pressing upon his countrymen. The next morning, 
September 22nd, Essex and his fleet came into the 
harbour, and the Commander-in-chief was hotly 
indignant that his subordinate had robbed him of 
the glory of taking Fayal. Some of the ' cankered 
and scandalous ' sycophants, who surrounded him, 
urged him to bring Ralegh to a court-martial, and 
said that he deserved to lose his head. When 
Ralegh paid his formal visit to Essex to report his 
proceedings, he was at once charged with a ' breach 
of order and the articles.' ' I know of no such 
breach,' replied Ralegh ; and when Essex pointed 
out that by the instructions no troops were to be 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 211 

landed without the General's order, Ralegh entered 
into a dignified defence of his action, asserting that 
the words, * or other principal commander,' included 
himself, and allowed him discretion in such case. 
Essex was not implacable. He knew how much 
greater was Ralegh's experience and ability as a 
commander than his own, but Blount and Merrick 
kept the wound open, and it required all Lord 
Thomas Howard's diplomacy to prevent Ralegh 
from being punished and disgraced. Essex and his 
men, after much hesitation, then attacked Villa 
Franca in S' Michael's, and captured the place, 
Ralegh's squadron being kept on the other side of the 
island until the whole of the booty had been secured 
and shipped, in order that he and his men should 
have no share of it. Whilst this was passing in the 
Azores, the Adelantado had managed to get together 
a fleet of a sort, and early in October it sailed for 
Ireland, only to be scattered by a storm before reaching 
the Lizard, and to be driven back disabled to Spain. 

Essex remained at sea for a month longer way- 
laying and capturing Spanish ships. He managed 
to miss the main body of Indiamen, but took or burnt 
such stragglers as he came across, and finally returned 
to England at the end of the month with three rich 
carracks, and a few merchantmen from Brazil. The 
booty was not imposing, hardly covering, indeed, the 
cost of the expedition, and the Queen was accord- 
ingly discontented. Essex was received coldly, and 



2 12 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

found in his absence that he had lost ground at Court. 
The Lord Admiral had been made Earl of Notting- 
ham for his services at Cadiz, and had been given 
precedence over all other noblemen of his rank, and 
this made the foolish, headstrong young Earl more 
insolent and presumptuous than ever. He insulted 
and challenged the Lord Admiral and his sons, 
feigned illness, and deprived the Oueen of his com- 
pany, until at last she relented, and for the sake of 
peace — it is said at the instance of Ralegh — made 
Essex Earl Marshal, with precedence next after 
Howard, who then in his turn took umbrage and 
retired from Court. On the other hand, the Queen 
had received Ralegh with marked favour, and approved 
of his action at Fayal. Ralegh had never been 
popular with the crowd, but his new favour with 
the Queen, to the appareit detriment of Essex, made 
him more than ever disliked ; and as soon as might 
be, he retired to peaceful Sherborne to rest and 
recruit his broken health. He was soon busy again 
on the fortifications of the Cornish coast and in other 
duties of his offices, as well as in Parliament ; and 
thenceforward for a time the rivalry between him 
and Essex slumbered. But Essex was rushing upon 
his destruction. His insolence to the Queen was 
unrestrained. He sought to interfere with State 
appointments with which he had no concern, until 
at last the appointment of a new Viceroy in Ireland 
brought matters to a crisis, and his boorish rudeness 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 213 

to his benefactress, and the famous box on the ears 
he got from the outraged Queen, laid the foundation 
of his ruin. After a time, with sulky lip-submission, 
he came back to Court, ready to quarrel with any- 
one. His temper at the time is well shown by his 
treatment of Ralegh at a tourney in the tiltyard at 
Whitehall on the Queen's birthday, 1598. It appears 
that Essex learnt of Ralegh's intention of appearing 
with his train, wearing orange-coloured plumes in 
their hats, and orange favours. Essex thereupon 
dressed himself and all his enormous following in 
the same colours, so as to appear to absorb Ralegh 
and his smaller suite. This was petty enough ; but 
it was by such acts as this that Essex kept the Court 
in a turmoil of jealousy and distrust. He had opposed 
Cecil and the Queen in their intended Irish policy. 
The English troops had suffered a serious disaster at 
the hands of Tyrone's rebels, and vigorous action 
was absolutely necessary, in the face of the intimate 
relationship which was known to exist between the 
Irish insurgents and Spain. Essex factiously opposed 
everything, until at last the supreme command in 
Ireland was offered to him. To leave Court, with 
Cecil and Ralegh unrestrained, was a serious step for 
hmi to take, and he hesitated, but he was discontented 
and unhappy, yearning for opportunities of gaining 
fresh popular applause, and at last he took the plunge, 
and assumed the charge that had ruined and broken 
the heart of his father. 



2 14 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

He had no sooner decided to go to Ireland than he 
regretted the step he had taken. ' From a mind 
dehghting in sorrow,' he wrote to the Queen, ' from 
spirits wasted with passion, from a heart torn in pieces 
with care, grief and travail, from a man that hateth 
himself and all things else that keep him alive, what 
service can Your Majesty expect, since any service past 
deserves no more than banishment and proscription to 
the cursedest of islands ? It is your rebel's pride and 
succession must give me leave to ransom myself out of 
this hateful prison, out of my loathed body, which, if 
it happeneth so. Your Majesty shall have cause to 
mislike the fashion of my death, since the course of 
my life could never please you.' 

Soon after his arrival in Ireland he wrote to the 
Queen in bitter jealousy, ' From England I receive 
nothing but discomforts and soul's wounds. ... Is 
it not lamented of Your Majesty's faithfuUest subjects 
both there and here that a Cobham and Ralegh — 
I will forbear others for their places' sakes — should 
have such credit and favour with Your Majesty, when 
they wish the ill success of Your Majesty's most 
important action, the decay of your greatest strength, 
and the destruction of your faithful servants ? ' For 
the dastardly suggestion directed against Ralegh — and 
evidently against Cecil- — that they wished for the 
success of Tyrone is absolutely unfounded. There is 
no hint of such a thing in the correspondence between 
the Irish insurgents and the Spaniards, as there would 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 215 

have been if it were true ; but there is a statement 
made by Tyrone and O'Donnell that Essex himself 
was in negotiation with them for joining forces and 
holding Ireland until he could have his own way in 
England. The Irish chiefs asserted that it was only 
Essex's distrust as to their good faith that prevented 
him from joining them. Sir Christopher Blount, who 
was executed for complicity in Essex's conspiracy, 
said that whilst the Earl was in Ireland he consulted 
him, Blount, as to bringing in 4000 Queen's soldiers 
then under his (Blount's) command, 'with full purpose 
to right himself by force of such wrongs as he com- 
plained he had received here in his absence.' Blount 
on the scaffold asserted that Essex would have raised 
the standard of revolt in Ireland, but for the persuasion 
to the contrary of the Earl of Southampton and him- 
self. Moreover, at the time, Essex was certainly 
carrying on a secret correspondence with James VI, , 
with the alleged purpose of counteracting the supposed 
acquiescence of Cecil and Ralegh in plots in favour of 
the succession of the Infanta ; and subsequent to 
Essex's return to England and disgrace with the 
Queen, his friend, Lord Mountjoy, then about to 
start for Ireland as Essex's successor, wrote to James, 
proposing that a Scottish army should be placed on 
the borders, to compel the Queen to acknowledge 
James as her heir, whilst Essex raised the standard in 
England, and Mountjoy himself brought over half the 
Queen's army from Ireland to join him ; and thus to 



2i6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

overawe Elizabeth and her Government for the benefit 
of Essex and James. Accusations, therefore, brought 
by such men as these against Ralegh and Cecil must 
be scrutinised very closely before being accepted. We 
shall consider in due course vs^hat connection, if any, 
Ralegh had w^ith the Infanta's party at a later stage, but 
it is certain that up to this time he had no share v\^hat- 
ever in it, notwithstanding the hints of Essex and 
his friends. 

Essex began badly in Ireland by dallying in 
Munster, when he should have been striking swiftly 
and heavily at Tyrone and O'Donnell. He offended 
the Queen by appointing his friend Southampton to 
an important command, after Her Majesty had posi- 
tively forbidden such an appointment. He then 
made a bad matter worse by refusing to dismiss South- 
ampton ; and his friends at Court told him that the 
Queen was looking upon his proceedings as traitorous. 
He next took the fatal step of rushing over to England, 
abandoning his high post, and, all travel-stained as he 
was, pushed his way into the Oueen's bedroom at 
Nonsuch, and knelt at his Sovereign's feet. Soon 
the Court was ostentatiously divided into two factions. 
Essex was under arrest and, so to speak, upon his trial 
for disobedience, and was supported by the Earls of 
Worcester and Rutland, Lords Mountjoy, Rich, 
Lumley and Henry Howard, at least three of whom 
are known to have belonged to the Spanish Catholic 
party ; whilst Cecil had on his side Ralegh, the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 217 

Earls of Shrewsbury and Nottingham, Lords Thomas 
Howard, Cobham, Grey, and Ralegh's cousin Sir 
George Carew. The danger grew ; the crowd was 
on the side of Essex, and large numbers of officers 
flocked over from Ireland to stand by the side of 
the popular Earl, who lost no opportunity of posing 
in the eyes of the people as the victim of Cecil and 
Ralegh's jealous intrigues, instead of his own folly 
and wrong-headedness. It was during this period of 
mutual hatred and distrust (the early summer of 
1600) that Ralegh vs^rote his famous letter to Cecil, 
w^hich has so frequently been interpreted to the 
writer's prejudice. It may be explained that Cecil 
had shown no disposition to push matters to an 
extreme against Essex, and had caused the Oueen 
to remove his case from the Star Chamber, where 
the punishment would have been confiscation and 
perpetual imprisonment, to the Council itself, where 
a milder course would be taken. 

The following are Ralegh's words to the 
Secretary : — 

' I am not wise enough to geve yow advise ; butt if 
yow take it for good councell to relent towards this 
tirant, yow will repent it when it shalbe too late. His 
malUce is fixt, and will not evaporate by any of your 
mild courses. For he will ascribe the alteration to 
Her Majesty's pusillanimitye, and not to your good 
nature ; knowing that yow worke but uppon her 
humour, and not out of any love towards hyme. 



2i8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

The less yow make hyme, the less he shalbe able 
to harm yow and yours. And if Her Majesty's 
favour faile hyme hee will againe decline to a 
common person. For after - revenges, feare them 
not ; for your own father, that was esteemed to be 
the contriver of Norfolk's ruin, yet his son followeth 
your father's son, and loveth him. Humours of men 
succeed not butt grow by occasions and accidents of 
time and power. ... I could name yow a thousand 
of thos ; and therfore after-fears are but profesies— or 
rather conjectures from cawses remote. Looke to 
the present and yow do wisely. His son shalbe the 
youngest Earle of Ingland but one, and if his father 
be kept down, Will Cecil shalbe abell to keip as many 
men at his heeles as hee, and more too. . . . But if 
the father continue, he wilbe abel to break the branches, 
and pull up the tree, root and all. Lose not your 
advantage ; if you do, I rede your destiny. — Your's 
to the end, W, R.' 

On the margin is written, 'Lett the Q. hold Both- 
well while she hath hyme. He will ever be the canker 
of her estate and sauftye. Princes are lost by security ; 
and preserved by prevention. I have seen the last of 
her good days and all ours, after his libertye.' 

Most of Ralegh's biographers have considered it 
necessary to offer some apology for this bitter letter. 
I do not think that any such is required. Essex was 
clearly now a standing danger to the State. Some of 
the best heads of England had fallen for less than a 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 219 

tithe of his offences, and with the views of the 
times it was the most natural thing in the world that 
Ralegh, to whom his triumph would have meant 
ruin— probably death — should have urged that the 
usual punishment for treason should be awarded him, 
or at least, that the leniency of Cecil should not shield 
him from it. What Ralegh did not know, but was 
to find out later to his heavy cost, was that the cool, 
unemotional hunchback Cecil was intent upon playing 
a double game by which in any case he would win. 
He knew, of course, that Essex was posing to James as 
the supporter of his claims to the succession, and saw 
that leniency to the Earl would be well regarded by 
the man who might probably become his sovereign. 
Cecil took care a little later himself to convince 
James that he was his strongest partisan, but was 
determined that his friend and colleague Ralegh 
should have no part in the King's good will. 

Whilst Essex was chafing in disgrace, Ralegh was 
advancing in power and favour. The new King of 
Spain was forced to recognise the fact that his country 
was well nigh bankrupt and impotent ; and peace 
both with France and England was in the air. 
English commissioners were sent to Boulogne, but 
for the time the negotiations came to nothing, so far 
as England was concerned. During the course of 
the conferences, however, it became necessary to send 
a secret mission to Maurice of Nassau, still engaged in 
trying to relieve Ostend, with many English sym- 



220 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

pathisers by his side. The Queen had peremptorily 
refused to appoint Essex one of the commissioners for 
peace, but, as if to emphasise her displeasure with him, 
she entrusted Ralegh and Lord Cobham with the 
mission to Prince Maurice, and on Ralegh's return 
appointed him Governor of Jersey. Essex was now 
at liberty, but out of favour with the Queen, to whom 
he grew more and more insolent ; telling her on one 
occasion, according to Ralegh, ' that her disposition 
was as crooked as her carcass.' He wrote to James 
alarming letters about Ralegh's unrestrained power in 
the west country, and now in Jersey. Lord Cobham, 
too, was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and the 
Cecil party was in possession of all the principal outlets 
to the kingdom where a Spanish force might land. 
The government of the country, Essex assured James, 
was now in the hands of a party who would sell it to the 
Lifanta the moment the breath was out of the Oueen's 
body ; and although he knew it was untrue, Essex pre- 
tended to believe that he had been marked out by 
Ralegh and Cobham as the first person to be destroyed. 
It was an absolute fiction that cither Cecil or Ralegh 
was in negotiation with the Lifanta's party, but Essex 
knew that no more unpopular charge could be brought 
against them, and sheltered his own ambitions and 
grievances behind it. There is no doubt that Essex's 
conspiracy was far more widespread than it was con- 
sidered wise to bring out at his trial, and that James 
himself was deeply implicated in it, as well as many 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 221 

important persons in England. At length matters 
came to a crisis. Essex had been feigning contrition 
at his house in the country, until he found the Queen 
was obdurate, and that the Cecil party had a firm 
grasp of power. Then he returned ostentatiously to 
Essex House, and began to show open disaffection. 
Sumptuous entertainments were given to his friends ; 
the extreme Puritan party was made much of, and the 
populace conciliated by denunciations of Spain and 
the Catholics. Secret conferences were held at Drury 
House (Sir John Danvers's), on the other side of the 
Strand, to divert suspicion from Essex House, and a 
plot was formed for seizing Whitehall, and forcing 
the Queen to dismiss Cecil, Ralegh, the Lord 
Admiral, and the rest of them, and then summon 
Parliament and settle the question of the succession. 
Cecil had his spies everywhere, and knew all about the 
silly plan. Essex was summoned before the Council 
on Saturday, 7th February 1601, and declined to attend 
on the ground of illness. It was clear that the time 
for action had come, but the plan of seizing Whitehall 
was evidently impracticable now, for the Government 
was on the alert, and the guards had been doubled. 
Early on Sunday morning Essex's friends, Southampton, 
Monteagle, Sandys, Rutland, and 300 gentlemen, 
met at Essex House with the intention of riding 
into the city hard by, and arousing the citizens with 
the recital of the popular Earl's supposed wrongs, and 
his danger from Ralegh, of whom the populace were 



222 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

willing to believe any slander. Whilst they were 
assembled Ralegh sent a message to one of them — 
a connection of his own — Sir Ferdinando Gorges, to 
come and see him at Durham House. Essex con- 
sented to his going, if he met Ralegh on the river 
but did not enter his house. Ralegh was alone in his 
boat when they met, and advised Gorges to escape to 
Plymouth, as a warrant was out for him. Gorges said 
it was now too late, and that he had gone too far to 
draw back. Ralegh then asked what was the matter. 
' I told him there were 2000 gentlemen who had 
resolved that day to live or die free men.' To this 
Ralegh replied that he did not see what they could 
do against the Queen's authority. ' It is the abuse of 
that authority by you and others,' said Gorges, ' which 
made so many honest men seek a reformation,' where- 
upon Ralegh sternly told him to remember his allegi- 
ance and his duty, and returned to Court ; whilst 
Gorges rejoined the conspirators at Essex House. 
Sir Christopher Blount had— according to Gorges — 
advised him to kill Ralegh during the interview on 
the river, but he refused to do so, although he con- 
fesses that one of his reasons for his not doing so 
was to establish a claim upon Ralegh's gratitude 
in case of failure. Blount himself, however, was less 
scrupulous, and sent four men with muskets to follow 
Gorges, and, if possible, to murder Ralegh, for which 
on the scaffold he begged the latter's forgiveness. A 
commission of the Council was sent to Essex House, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 223 

to warn those assembled on their allegiance to disperse. 
The members of the commission were shut up in the 
house, and the infatuated Earl rode through Temple 
Bar with his retinue, crying out that Ralegh had laid 
an ambuscade for him on his way to Whitehall, and 
sought his life. The church-going citizens flocked 
around him open-mouthed and listened, but made no 
move in his favour. To sympathise with a brilliant, 
open-handed, popular favourite in disgrace was one 
thing, but to take up arms against the State for his 
private grievances was another, and soon murmurs of 
* treason ' in the crowd warned Essex that he had 
made a mistake. He sought to ride back to Essex 
House, but he found the city train-band had blocked 
his way and Temple Bar was shut. Galloping down 
one of the side lanes off Fleet Street, he cast himself 
into a boat and rowed back to his house, only to find it 
besieged on the Strand front, and shortly afterwards 
beleaguered by water. After a siege of a few hours, 
he surrendered at discretion, and ten days afterwards 
was tried and condemned for high treason. The 
principal conspirators, Essex amongst them, vied 
with each other in the frankness and thoroughness 
of their confessions, though they all tried to throw 
the principal blame upon others, but Blount absolved 
Ralegh from the accusation of a design to kill Essex, 
which he said was only 'a word cast out to colour 
other matters.' During Essex's trial at Westminster, 
Ralegh was on duty as captain of the guard, and 



224 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

also gave evidence as to his conversation with Gorges 
on the river. When Ralegh w^as called, Essex, 
insolent to the last, cried, 'What booteth it to 
swear this fox ' ; and, at a subsequent stage, the 
Earl sought to justify his statement that Cecil 
and Ralegh were arranging to sell the country to 
the Infanta, by alleging that he had been told that 
Cecil had said to a fellow - councillor that the 
Infanta's title was as good as that of any other 
person. Cecil immediately challenged him to prove 
it, whereupon he appealed to poor weak Southampton, 
who stood by his side in the dock, who, in his 
turn, named Sir William Knollys. Before the trial 
was allowed to proceed Knollys was sent for, and 
as he stepped on to the witness-stand the fate of 
Essex trembled in the balance. ' Did Mr Secretary 
ever use any such speeches in your hearing or to 
your knowledge ? ' was the question asked. ' I 
never heard him speak any words to that effect,' 
answered Knollys, and the words must have sounded 
like a death knell to the doomed man, enmeshed 
in the toils he had spun for others. At Essex's 
execution, Ralegh, as captain of the guard, was 
present in the Tower. He thought that per- 
chance the Earl might wish to speak to him, or 
ask his forgiveness in his last moments, and at first 
took up a position near the scaffold ; but the 
populace, who hated Ralegh, and had made up its 
mind that Essex was being sacrificed to his intrigues, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 225 

began to murmur, and Ralegh retired to a distant 
window of the armoury where he could see without 
being seen. He afterwards said he was sorry that 
he had done so, as the Earl had asked for him. 
The cruel slanders about his indecent rejoicing at 
the fall of his rival rest upon an utterly discredited 
foundation — the imagination of the prejudiced crowd 
and the statements of the vile scoundrel Stukeley, who 
afterwards betrayed Ralegh. In his own last moments 
on the scaffold, Ralegh indignantly repudiated the 
slander. ' True it was, I was of the contrary faction, 
but I bare him no ill affection, and always believed 
it had been better for me that his life had been 
preserved ; for after his fall J. got the hatred of 
those who wished me well before, and those who 
set me against him set themselves afterwards against 
me, and were my greatest enemies.' 

We are told that Ralegh was sad and troubled on 
his way back to Durham House, after Essex's execu- 
tion, and well he might be. He was now supreme 
favourite, with no one to come between him and the 
Queen. But Elizabeth herself was a setting sun, and 
the great problem for courtiers was what luminary 
was to come after her. Essex had been brought to 
ruin by his own folly, but his descent had been care- 
fully aided by Cecil for years past ; and yet Cecil now 
posed, both to James VI. and to the London mob, as 
a man deeply injured by Essex, but who had sought 
to soften the blow which had fallen on the favourite ; 

p 



226 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

whilst Ralegh was, by his own writing to Cecil, made 
to appear a vindictive enemy, urging the Secretary to 
extreme courses. Before very long Ralegh was to 
find, when too late, that Robert Cecil could as ill 
brook the rivalry of friends and partisans like himself, 
as that of declared opponents like Essex. Hardly 
had the head of the Earl been struck from his 
shoulders than the secret correspondence which was 
to ruin Ralegh was commenced between Secretary 
Cecil, Lord Henry Howard and the coming King 
James. 

Ralegh's multifarious duties did not sit lightly 
upon him : he worked laboriously at them all. As 
Governor of Jersey, planning new fortifications, sitting 
as supreme judge in litigious cases, or abolishing old 
abuses ; as Lord Warden of the Stannaries, safeguard- 
ing the interests of his tin miners, whilst securing his 
own great revenues ; as Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, 
keeping an eye on the important fortresses upon which 
the safety of England so largely depended j as Captain 
of the Guard and informal councillor, in constant 
attendance upon the Queen and entertaining foreign 
diplomatists ; as a great Irish landowner — a quality 
he was soon to relinquish by the sale of his estate 
— immersed in litigation with his neighbours and 
tenants ; as an English country gentleman, deeply 
interested in the cultivation of his lands ; as an ex- 
plorer, continuing to send expeditions to Guiana at 
his own expense to maintain the friendly communica- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 227 

tions with the natives, and striving, again and again, 
unsuccessfully, to join hands with his abandoned 
colonists in Virginia ; and, above all, as a Parliament 
man, speaking often and vi^eightily. He sat as senior 
Knight of the Shire for Cornwall in the Parliament 
of 1 60 1-2. A bill was introduced for the compulsory 
sowing of hemp by farmers. To this he was strongly 
opposed. ' I do not,' he said, ' like this constraining 
of men to manure or use their ground at our wills ; 
but rather let every man use his ground for that which 
it is most fit for, and therein use their own discretion ' ; 
and he subsequently went on to condemn the com- 
pulsory ploughing of land, which he said the farmers 
often were too poor to sow,^and it was thus made 
useless even for pasture. He also spoke strongly and 
patriotically in favour of a generous grant being voted 
for the defence of the country. The Spaniards had 
established a considerable army at Kinsale, and had 
been twice unsuccessful in subsequent attempts to 
send strong fleets to reinforce it. There was some 
attempt in Parliament to exempt the 'three pound 
men,' but Ralegh successfully demanded that there 
should be no exemptions. He let it be seen, however, 
that his action was not from any want of sympathy for 
the poorer taxpayers, but only because the required 
subsidy could not be raised unless the ' three pound 
men ' were included. The way in which he turned 
upon such powerful men as Cecil and Bacon, both of 
whom favoured his own view, in this debate, is a good 



228 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

specimen of the intellectual arrogance which drew so 
much dislike upon him. Cecil had said, * Neither 
pots or pans nor dish nor spoon should be spared 
when danger is at our elbows. I would not by any 
means have the " three pound men " excluded, because 
I would have the King of Spain to know how willing 
we are to sell all in defence of God's religion, our 
prince and our country.' And Ralegh answered, ' I 
like it not that the Spaniards, our enemies, should know 
of our selling our pots and pans to pay subsidies ; you 
may call it policy . . . but I am sure it argues poverty 
in the State.' Francis Bacon had advocated the in- 
clusion of the ' three pound men ' on the ground that 
^ Dulcis tractus pari jugo? 'Call you this '■'■par 
jugum^'' ' cried Ralegh, ' when a poor man pays as 
much as a rich one ; and peradventure his estate is 
no better than it is set at, or but little better ; while 
our estates are thirty or forty pounds in the Queen's 
books, and it is not the hundreth part of our wealth ; 
therefore it is neither dulcis nor par^ 

In his speeches during the session in favour of the 
repeal of the act for compulsory tillage, his argu- 
ments are curiously anticipatory of the free trade 
views which in our times have become established. 
' The Low Countryman and the Hollander,' he pointed 
out, ' who never sow corn, have by their industry such 
plenty that they may serve other nations . . . and 
therefore I think the best course is to set it (/.^., the 
cultivation of corn) at liberty, and leave every 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 229 

man free, which is the desire of a true English- 



man. 



By more than one little civil passage of arms be- 
tween Ralegh and Cecil in this session, it is easy to 
see that although they were still ostensibly friendly, 
the division had already begun. Cecil's letters to 
Ralegh's cousin, Sir George Carew, at the same period 
tell a similar story. It is evident from them that 
Cecil stood in the way of Ralegh's constant ambition 
to be appointed a privy councillor, and that Cecil's 
path of selfish statesmanship here separated from that 
of his old friend and colleao;ue. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN THE INFANTA's 

CLAIM — CECIL, HENRY HOWARD AND JAMES VI. 

RALEGH MARKED OUT FOR DESTRUCTION 

DEATH OF THE QUEEN DISGRACE OF RALEGH 

ARREST OF COBHAM AND RALEGH ACCUSED OF 

TREASON 

During the whole of her reign Elizabeth had 
vigorously resisted all persuasions to countenance a 
successor to her crown. By the will of Henry VIII. 
it devolved upon her death to the descendants of 
Frances, Duchess of Suffolk, represented at the end 
of Elizabeth's reign by William Seymour, the grand- 
son of Catharine Grey by the Earl of Hertford, whom 
she had married in the Tower. James Stuart, as 
representing the descendants of the elder daughter 
of Henry VII., Margaret, Queen of Scotland, was 
held by many jurists to be excluded in consequence 
of his being an alien ; and his cousin Arabella, the 
daughter of Darnley's younger brother, was con- 
sidered to have a better claim to the crown. There 

230 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 231 

were several descendants of the Poles, notably the 
Earl of Huntingdon, who were also considered to 
have a right to be included in the line of succession, 
and who, at various times during Elizabeth's life, 
had been taken up by one or another of the political 
parties. 

Mary Stuart's will, disinheriting her son James in 
consequence of his heresy and bequeathing her rights 
to the English crown to Philip of Spain, had been 
the outcome of long-continued intrigue on the part 
of Spanish paid agents ; but it was only intended to 
give further sanction to Philip's claim as a descend- 
ant of Philippa Plantagenet, daughter of John of 
Gaunt, which, for some time previously, had been 
cautiously and tentatively advanced. There had 
long been a bitter feud between the English and 
Scottish Catholic exiles with regard to the suc- 
cession. Most of them were in the pay of Philip ; 
and the English, with a few exceptions, were strongly 
opposed to the accession of a Scottish king to the 
English throne. They were ceaseless in urging 
upon Philip that the union of the two crowns 
would mean the subjugation of England to Scotland, 
which the English would never permit ; and Philip's 
English advisers pointed out to him that a Catholic 
revival, which reached them over the Scottish border, 
would be resisted on national grounds even by the 
Encrlish Catholics themselves. On the other hand, 
the Guises, the French cardinals at the Vatican, the 



232 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Scots, and the Pope himself, who were not anxious 
to see the Spaniards supreme over England, were 
in favour of converting James, or, at least, securing 
from him toleration for Catholics, and helping him 
to the crown. For years the main intrigue was 
worked in Rome, where Allen and Parsons, with 
Philip's ambassador, were ceaseless in their efforts 
to throw cold water on the suggestion that James 
might be sincerely converted ; whilst Cardinal 
Mondovi, Cardinal Sanzio, the agent of the League, 
and, above all, the Carthusian Bishop of Dunblane, 
were equally active in an opposite direction. The 
duplicity of James himself was marvellous. He blew 
hot and cold with equal facility ; would enter into 
Catholic plots with Huntly or Claude Hamilton ; 
would receive and smile upon the Bishops of Ross 
or Dunblane, discuss religion with the Jesuit priests, 
ask the Pope and Philip for men and mo-ney to 
protect him against the heretics ; or allow Guise 
to suggest a marriage between him and the Pope's 
niece. But he was equally ready to receive a 
pension from Elizabeth ; and when it suited him, 
to be as rigid a Puritan as John Knox himself. 

As Elizabeth's days began to draw to an end, it 
became necessary for English statesmen to consider 
deeply the subject which she herself avoided. The 
edifice of English greatness had been laboriously 
built up during forty years of herculean labour and 
consummate statesmanship ; and it behoved all those 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 233 

who had taken part in the work, to safeguard it 
when the great Queen should fall. For personal 
reasons, and from the Queen's policy, most of the 
English claimants had receded into the background 
before Elizabeth's death, and Lady Arabella Stuart was 
the only person in England of royal descent who had 
any probability of success. She herself was a some- 
what unwise and flighty person, who lived princi- 
pally with her grandmother, the Countess of Shrews- 
bury — Bess of Hardwick — at one or other of her 
great houses, Chatsworth or Hardwick Hall. Her life 
at Court, when she went thither, was an unquiet 
one ; she was alternately patronised and snubbed 
by the Queen, and as many husbands had been in 
turn suggested for her by various political com- 
binations as for Elizabeth herself — Leicester's 
base son, James VL, Henry IV., the Archduke 
Mathias, and a host of other pretenders, were in 
turn mentioned and dropped, until, in the last year 
of the Queen's reign, she took the dangerous step 
of marrying clandestinely young William Seymour, 
the grandson of Catharine Grey. The combination 
thus formed might have been a powerful one, as it 
united the two principal English claimants ; and but 
for the obscure intrigues which brought Cecil to adopt 
James VL, it is quite possible that Arabella Stuart 
and her husband might have succeeded peacefully 
to the throne. The question of the succession was 
thus an open one, and it involved no disloyalty on 



234 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

the part of Ralegh, or any other statesman, to 
examine and discuss the various claims, or to 
espouse the cause of either of the claimants. 

The pamphlets with regard to the right of succes- 
sion had been numerous. The Scottish-French party 
had persistently alleged that Mary Stuart and her son 
were not ineligible for the English throne in conse- 
quence of their being aliens ; and when the English 
Catholics had persuaded Philip that the country would 
welcome him with open arms in place of a Scotsman, 
and it was determined to assert his own claims, the 
arguments of the Scottish party were adopted so far 
as they related to the eligibility of alien princes to 
succeed. Philip's descent from John of Gaunt was 
always coupled with the renunciation of Mary Stuart 
in his favour ; and James was excluded by the 
Spaniards, not for alienage, but in consequence of his 
mother's will, and because of his heresy, and the 
kinship of his parents, who had been married without 
a papal dispensation. At the time of the Armada the 
Pope had been cajoled into an agreement by which 
Philip was to have the right of appointing the 
Sovereign of England when Elizabeth was deposed ; 
but when the Pontiff became restive as to the person 
to be appointed, he was told that the King did not 
want England for himself, but that in order to be 
quite sure of the effectual conversion of the country, 
the only person he could depend upon would be his 
daughter the Infanta. 



SIR V/ALTER RALEGH 235 

Sixtus did not like the situation, but both he and 
the French had been disarmed by the clever prior 
diplomacy of Philip, and he was obliged to put up 
with it ; rejoicing, nevertheless, at its failure when 
the disaster of the Armada had made it for a time 
impossible. The English Catholics, however, paid 
by Philip ; Heighinton, Father Parsons (in his 
own name and under that of Dolman), Dr Wendon, 
Cardinal Allen and others, continued both in speech 
and writing to urge the claims of the Spanish King, 
and even the Scottish Bishop of Ross (Leslie) and 
the Archbishop of Glasgow (Beton) were ultimately 
bought over to the same side. 

After the failure of the Armada, the English resi- 
dents in Spain, the Duchess of Feria at their head, 
begged Philip, again and again, to espouse the cause 
of the afflicted Catholics in England; the Jesuits were 
ceaseless in their efforts to the same end ; and when 
it became evident that the King himself was too old 
and broken to act for himself, he was urged to make 
provisions for aiding by arms and money the accession 
of his favourite daughter the Infanta when Elizabeth 
should die. No prompt action could be got from 
him, and beyond his tardy and inadequate aid to the 
Irish rebels, he did little but adopt in principle the 
prayer of the English exiles that the Infanta should 
be their future sovereign. 

After Philip's death in 1598, the English Catholics 
continued to urge upon his successor the vigorous pro- 



236 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

motion of the Infanta's claim. Philip III., however, 
was even in greater penury than his father had been, 
utterly exhausted by his disastrous attempts to aid the 
Irish, and for a time no definite answer could be 
obtained from him. Father Creswell was represent- 
ing the English Catholics at Madrid and Father 
Parsons in Rome, urging upon Philip III. continu- 
ally the need for a prompt decision, and at length, in 
July 1600, it was decided that the Infanta and 
her husband, the Archduke, now Sovereigns of the 
Netherlands, should be adopted formally as the Spanish 
candidates for the English throne. It had been decided 
by Philip and his Council that galleys should be sent 
to Flanders to be in readiness ; but the King was sadly 
told that there were no galleys available, and the most 
that could be done was to send thither 200,000 ducats 
to hold in readiness for instant use when the Queen 
of England should die. To Father Parsons in Rome 
was entrusted the task of conveying the intelligence 
to the English Catholics, but only those in whom 
implicit confidence could be placed were to be told. 
Late in 1602 Creswell presented to the Council 
in Madrid communications from the Catholics in 
England saying that the Queen might die at any 
moment. James's friends were busy, and it was 
absolutely necessary, if the Catholics were not to 
be completely outwitted, that a considerable force 
should be ready to act in the Infanta's favour when 
the Queen died. They begged that an immediate 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 237 

answer, yes or no, should be sent to them ; because 
if nothing was to be done, they must make the best 
terms they could with the new king. In vain, week 
after week, Creswell prayed for an answer, until at 
last he lost patience and threatened to inform his 
principals that he could do no more, and washed 
his hands of the business. 

The slow and cumbrous methods of infinite con- 
sultation introduced by Philip IL always made 
prompt decision impossible ; but the reason why 
Creswell was kept waiting from November 1602 
to March 1603 for a formal answer as to the 
Spanish intentions was that when the communica- 
tions of the English Catholics were 'laid before the 
Council, Count de Olivares had' the boldness for 
the first time to seize the bull by the horns, and 
in a speech of prodigious length and prolixity 
placed an entirely new light on the matter. What 
was the good, he asked, of talking about imposing 
the Infanta on the English people. She and her 
husband were elderly and childless, neither of them 
cared a straw about the English throne : they had 
more than they could do to hold the Netherlands. 
The King's exchequer was empty ; he had no ships 
or men to spare ; and to assume an endless responsi- 
bility in England would probably complete the ruin 
of Spain. Let the English Catholics choose one of 
themselves, or even a heretic if he would give tolera- 
tion ; and then the King of Spain might assume the 



238 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

disinterested role of the champion of the English 
candidate, to whom he would transfer his rights, 
against the alien King of Scots. This was a new 
view, and the Council was ordered to discuss it fully 
and exhaustively. It took them three months to do 
it, but it was at last decided that the Infanta was to 
be dropped, and the English Catholics informed that 
the King would aid any candidate they adopted. It 
was thought that this solution would disarm the 
King of France and the Pope, the latter of whom 
was to be tackled by Father Parsons and the Duke 
of Sessa. Ships were to be fitted out and a fresh 
supply of money sent to Flanders, the selected 
candidate was to be recommended to conciliate 
other pretenders by almost dividing the country 
amongst them, and the Spanish force to be sent 
was to request the new sovereign to grant the Isle 
of Wight as a station, which, once gained, the 
Spaniards had no intention of giving up. But, 
above all, the Queen's ministers were to be ap- 
proached, and convinced that Spain had now no 
selfish views, and that this was the solution which 
offered the best prospects both for them and for 
England. This formal decision was arrived at on the 
2nd March 1603, and the matter has been set forth 
thus at length, as it probably furnishes the key to the 
mystery which has always surrounded Ralegh's alleged 
complicity in a plot in favour of the Spanish party. 
There is little reason to doubt, however, that, al- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 239 

though the official decision of the Spanish Council was 
not adopted until the beginning of March, its drift 
v/as known to the English Catholics by the end of 
the year 1602 or very early in 1603, and that the 
person selected by them to be aided by Spanish arms 
was Arabella Stuart, whose close imprisonment at 
that time may be thus explained. It had been 
decided, as has been said, to approach Elizabeth's 
ministers and enlist them in the new Spanish plans, 
on the patriotic grounds of excluding the alien 
Scot ; and there is no doubt that the communica- 
tions known to have passed between Cobham and 
Ralegh and the Flemish envoy Aremberg were 
originally to this effect. 

In the meanwhile Cecil had established a perfect 
secret understanding with James, from which Ralegh 
was excluded. Several weeks after Essex's death, 
James's envoys, the Earl of Mar and Mr Bruce of 
Kinloss, arrived in London, too late of course to save 
the Earl ; but their second instructions were cautiously 
to approach Cecil and ofFer him the King's favour in 
return for help to his cause. Their fulfilment of these 
orders was more prudent than the orders themselves, 
which had conveyed a threat, on the supposition that 
Cecil was taking part in the Spanish plans, a belief 
doubtless conveyed to James by Essex. A secret confer- 
ence with Cecil soon convinced Mar that this was a 
mistake, and an arrangement was made for the carry- 
ing on of a correspondence between the King and the 



240 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Secretary. Before this, James had been propitiated by- 
Lord Henry Howard, certainly the basest villain in 
the black story of betrayal that followed. Lord 
Henry Howard, long afterwards the murderer of Sir 
Thomas Overbury, had been for many years a spy in 
the pay of Spain, and was deep in the confidence of 
the Catholic party. Everything that was done in the 
interests of the Spanish plans was known to him. 
At the same time he was carrying on a confidential 
correspondence with James, in which his hate of 
Ralegh was indulged in without restraint. Not only 
was Ralegh blackened, but nearly every other states- 
man but Cecil, upon whom Howard knew he would 
have to depend. Northumberland and Cobham 
especially were attacked, as friends of Ralegh. 'Hell 
cannot affxjrd such a like tripHcity, that denies the 
Trinity,' he wrote to James, speaking of these three. 
In November 1601, the Duke of Lennox, who had 
been sent by James to Henry IV. to ask for his 
countenance to his claims — which, by the way, Henry 
IV. was not very willing to give — was ordered to 
hasten to London whilst Parliament was sitting, to 
watch his master's interests. He was brought into 
touch with Ralegh and Cobham, ' those wicked villains,' 
as Howard called them. Several conferences appear 
to have taken place at Durham House, at which 
Ralegh expressed his devotion to James — this, be it 
remembered, was more than a year before the decision 
of the Spaniards to support any English candidate 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 241 

against James. Anything that should bring Ralegh 
into friendly contact with the Scottish King was gall 
and wormwood to Henry Howard, who at once 
sounded an alarm. First he wrote to the Earl of 
Mar suggesting that Lennox was busy raising up a 
party in opposition to Mar and Cecil ; and to James 
he continued to repeat that Ralegh and Cobham were 
really against him. ' Hell did never vomit up such a 
couple,* he said. 

But the dastardly scoundrel went further, and put 
in writing the heads of a proposed plot, by which 
Ralegh and Cobham should be destroyed. It is in the 
form of a letter to Cecil now in the Cotton MSS. 
First the Queen's mind must be poisoned against 
them. ' Hir Majesty must knowe the rage of their 
discontent for want of being called to that height 
which they affect ; and be made to taste the perill 
that growes out of discontented minds. . . . She must 
know that the blame is only laid on hir. ... So 
that roundly Hir Majestic must daily and by divers 
means be let to know the world's apprehendinge hir 
deepe wisdome in discerning the secret flawes of their 
affections. She must see some advertisements from 
forrain parts of the greif which the Queene's enemies 
doo take at their [i.e., Ralegh and Cobham's) sittinge 
out, hoping that their placing in authority would so 
far alienate the people's reverent affection as some 
mischief would succeed of it. She must be taught to 
see the perill that growes unto princes, by protecting, 

Q 



242 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

countenancing, or entertaining persons odious to the 
multitude.' One by one the three friends, Ralegh, 
Cobham and Northumberland, and even Ralegh's 
wife, are picked to pieces in order that Cecil may show 
their failings to the Queen. * Rawlie that in pride ex- 
ceedeth all men alive, finds no vent for paradoxis out 
of a Council board . . . and inspireth Cobham with 
his own passions. His wife as furious as Proserpina 
with failing of that restitution at Court which flatterie 
had moved her to expect.' All this and much more 
was to be instilled into the Oueen's ear by Cecil, 
*that she may be more apt to receive impressions 
of more important reasons when time serves with 
opportunity.' And then, 'you must embark this 
gallant Cobham by your witt and interest, in some 
course the Spanish way, as either may reveale his 
weaknesse or snare his ambition.' ' For my own 
part, I account it impossible for him to escape the 
snares which wit may sett and weaknesse is apt 
to fall into.' Howard says that the two friends 
had planned that Cobham should advocate peace 
with Spain, whilst Ralegh opposed it, in order that 
in either case one would succeed and help the 
other. Inferences were to be drawn from their 
desire, and toils set for them that they could not 
escape, and, as we shall see, into which they fell. 
Cecil, in his first letters to James, strikes the note 
of detraction of Ralegh and his friends, which was 
to deepen until they were ruined. Cecil had been 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 243 

the life-long friend of Ralegh, and their corre- 
spondence had been of the most affectionate character, 
and yet this is how he writes of him when he is 
asking the King not to convey to him, Cecil, any 
intelligence of the supposed plots of Ralegh and 
his friends, in case any accident should happen to 
the letter and he should lose their confidence. 

'I do profess, in the presence of Him that knoweth 
and searcheth all men's hearts, that if I dyd not 
some tyme cast a stone into the mouth of these 
gaping crabbs when they are in the prodigall humour 
of discourses, they would not stick to confess dayly 
how contrary it is to their nature to resolve to be 
under your sovereignty, thougji thej confess (Ralegh 
especially) that rebus sic stantibus y naturall policy 
forceth him to keep on foot such a trade against 
the great day of mart. In all which light and 
sudden humours of his, though I do no way check 
him becawse he shall not think I reject his freedom 
or his affection, but alwaies [sub sigillo confessionis) 
use contestation with him that I neyther had nor 
ever would in individuo contemplate future idea, nor 
ever hoped for more than justice in time of change; 
yet, under pretext of extraordinary care of his well- 
doing, I have seemed to disswade him from ingaging 
himself too farr, even for himself — much more, 
therefore, to forbeare to assume for me or my present 
intentions,' This friend then begs the King to 
believe nothing that Ralegh may say under any 



244 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

circumstances. But why, he asks, should he trouble 
the King with the relation of Ralegh's * ingratitude ' 
to him. *I will leave the best and worst of him to 
3 {i.e.y Lord Henry Howard) relation, in whose 
discretion and affection you may sleep securely.' 
Cecil, too, working on James's known theological 
bias, revived the old slander about Ralegh's religion, 
and calls him 'a person whom most religious men 
do hold anathema.' So jealous were Cecil and 
Howard, that they went to the length of begging 
James to tell them the name of the person who 
had introduced Ralegh to the Duke of Lennox, their 
evident desire being to mark even the intermediary 
down for ruin, James himself knew this, for he 
writes that the gentleman was Sir Arthur Savage, 
'a verrie honest, plaine gentleman.' 'Not doubt- 
ing but that 10 {i.e., Cecil) will conserve this as 
a freind's secreate, without suffering the gentleman 
to receave hairm thereby — since the gentlemanis 
nature appearis to be farre different from Raulies.' 
Through the correspondence, both with Cecil and 
Howard, James and his ministers, Mar and Bruce, 
are extravagant in their professions of love and con- 
fidence in Cecil, and in their assurances that Ralegh 
shall not be allowed to supplant him. Ralegh's 
old friend, Northumberland, must have seen that he 
was marked out for disgrace, for even he made haste 
to scuttle away from the sinking ship. In a letter 
to the King, giving him particulars of the tendencies 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 245 

of the English courtiers towards the succession, he 
says that although Ralegh is opposed to some of 
James's friends, yet he knows that he is in favour 
of the King's claims. 'The first of these (/.^., 
Cobham) I know not how his heart is affected, 
but the latter (Ralegh), whom sixteen years' acquaint- 
ance hath confirmed to me, I must needs affirme 
Rawliegh's ever allowance of yowr right ; and al- 
thowgh I knowe him insolent, extremely heated, 
a man that desirs to seeme to be able to swaye 
all men's fancies, all men's cowrses, and a man out 
of himself; when your time sail come will never 
be able to do yow muche goode nor hearme. Yet 
must I needs confesse what J. know, that there is 
excellent good parts of natur in hem, a man whose 
love is disadvantageous to me in somme sort, which 
I cherish rather out of constancie than policie, and 
one whome I wish Your Majesty not to lose, 
because I woulde not that one haire of a man's 
head sould be against yow that might be for yow.' 
This was written when Elizabeth was already sicken- 
ing for her last illness, and it sets forth the impres- 
sion of the weak time-server, that the powerful 
favourite, the great genius of whom he had been a 
satellite for years, was already a man to be damned 
with faint praise, to be contemptuously apologised 
for, but who henceforward could do neither good 
nor harm. To this had Ralegh been brought by 
the sneers and slanders of Howard and Cecil, during 



246 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

eighteen months' correspondence with the suspicious 
coming King. Ralegh's absence in Jersey and the 
west country had also been taken advantage of by 
Cecil to turn the old Queen's mind against her 
favourite, in accordance with the Machiavellian sugges- 
tions of Howard already quoted ; and in the last 
months of the reign, the shadow of disgrace was 
already descending rapidly upon him. When^ there- 
fore, on the 24th March 1603, the great Queen 
breathed her last, the seed so laboriously and secretly 
sown by Cecil had produced its harvest ; the new 
King was ready to look upon Ralegh as a traitor, 
and out of Cornwall hardly a man in England 
would say a good word for the erstwhile splendid 
favourite. 

Immediately the Queen died, a meeting of the 
principal public men was held at Whitehall to decide 
upon the proclamation of a successor. Ralegh was 
not a privy councillor, but he was summoned from 
the country, came and signed the letter of welcome 
to the King with the rest. It is difficult for English- 
men in these times to conceive the distrust and 
dislike then entertained for Scotsmen. They were of 
course foreigners, and had for centuries been more or 
less closely allied to France, the secular enemy of 
England ; their country was poor, and a large portion 
of it in semi-savagery ; and it was an article of faith 
with most patriotic Englishmen, that the Scot must 
never be allowed to dominate this country. But the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 247 

fates had fought in favour of James. The tardy and 
cumbrous methods of Phihp's Government, the 
attempt of Spain to grasp more than she could hold, 
had for forty years frustrated all efforts from that 
quarter to re-establish influence in England. When 
at last the looked-for day arrived, and the throne of 
England was vacant, Spain again was too late. We 
have seen that the formal decision to adopt and aid 
with men and money any Catholic or moderate candi- 
date who should be chosen by the English themselves 
against James Stuart, had only been arrived at on the 
2nd March, which — allowing for difference of the 
calendars — was only about a month before Elizabeth's 
death. There was time for the Catholic and anti-Scots 
English party to choose Arabella Stuart as their candi- 
date, but not time for the proposed Spanish support 
to be prepared to aid her. There was practically there- 
fore no other candidate than James ready at the 
time of the Queen's death, and the best that the 
patriotic party could do was to endeavour to limit to 
some extent the anticipated ravages of the Scottish 
locusts upon the fat pastures of the south. At the 
meeting at Whitehall, Ralegh's is said to be the voice 
that gave utterance to this feeling. He expressed an 
opinion that some limit ought to be placed on the 
power of the new King to appoint Scotsmen to 
English offices. Doubtless many thought so as 
well ; but each man was eagerly looking out for his 
own future, and dared not anger the coming King. 



248 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

The people at large had so long anticipated trouble on 
the death of the Queen, that they were in a fever 
of unreasoning rejoicing and loyalty to the man who 
appeared to be able to save them from the affliction ot 
civil war, and Ralegh's voice, if it gave forth such 
utterances as those mentioned, found no echo outside. 
Aubrey says — although it is probably untrue — that at 
the meeting at Whitehall Ralegh proposed a republic, 
and gives his words as, ' Let us keep the staff in our 
own hands, and set up a commonwealth and not 
remain subject to a needy beggarly nation.' In any 
case, he lost no time, any more than his colleagues, in 
trying to curry favour by the most abject flattery with 
the new King. 

James set forth for his new kingdom in the 
beginning of April. The exodus of courtiers and 
favour-seekers from London to meet the sovereign 
threatened to be so great that a proclamation was 
issued forbidding any person in the public service 
from resorting to the King ; and Cecil advised Ralegh 
not to go. Ralegh, however, held many high offices, 
which gave him right of access to the royal person, 
and he disregarded the advice. He met the King for 
the first time at Burghley House, his excuse for 
coming being the need of the King's authority for 
the continuance of legal process in the Duchy of 
Cornwall. Several stories have been told of the 
words that passed between them ; that the King 
openly insulted him by telling him that he thought 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 249 

very * rawly ' of him, a poor pun on his name ; and 
others of a similar sort ; but without giving undue 
credit to Aubrey's gossip, it may be safely concluded 
that there was no cordiality in the interview. Ralegh 
got the document he wanted as soon as might be so, 
that he might have no pretext for staying, and Lake 
reported to Cecil that he ' had taken no great root 
here.' Then blow after blow fell upon Ralegh. 
Soon after his return to London he was summoned 
to the Council Chamber and informed that he had 
been deprived of his office of Captain of the Guard, 
and that Sir Thomas Erskine had been appointed in 
his place. Rumour in the streets had already antici- 
pated this ; as well it might, for Cecil had planned 
the dismissal long before. He had apparently asked 
the King for the disposal of the office ; as Mr Bruce, 
writing to Lord Henry Howard, says (25th March 
1603), *So long as 30 [i.e.f King James) sail have 
need of a guard, so long sail it be at 10 {i.e.) Cecil's) 
charge.' 

What looked like a favour was granted to Ralegh 
soon afterwards, but it was not for his benefit. His 
Governorship of Jersey had been charged with the pay- 
ment of ;^300 a year to Lord Henry Seymour, and 
he was relieved from this payment, but in less than 
two months the Governorship of Jersey itself was taken 
away from him. But a more serious loss preceded this. 
Almost the first act done by the new King was to 
consider, with a view to their abrogation, the various 



2 50 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

monopolies granted by Elizabeth. They were -very 
unpopular, and much of Ralegh's own unpopularity 
was owing to his tavern licensing patent ; it was 
needful for the new King to please the people, and 
the monopolies were called in. The petition prompt- 
ing the measure had been especially aimed at Ralegh, 
but a question arose as to whether his licensing patent 
was a monoply at all. It was easy, however, to find 
a pretext for injuring Ralegh, and his patent was 
suspended until the question was decided ; and he was 
thus suddenly deprived of his most profitable source 
of income. Then came the occupation of the crown 
house of Durham Place. The house had been formerly 
the palace of the bishops of Durham, but had been 
taken by the crown, and for many years had been used 
as a royal guest-house. The Spanish ambassadors 
had lived there during the reign of Mary, and part 
of that of Elizabeth, but from 1583 Ralegh had made 
it his town residence. The part towards the Strand — 
stables and offices — had already become somewhat 
ruinous, and the great hall, which was a common 
thoroughfare for the neighbours going to get water 
from the conduit in the inner court, had been injured 
by fire. The character of the Strand, moreover, was 
changing, and there is no doubt that Cecil and Ralegh 
had already discussed the conversion of the stable 
front into something more fitting to a street which 
was becoming a principal one. Cecil's own house 
was only separated from it by the narrow thoroughfare 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 251 

called Ivy Lane, and he had already cast covetous 
eyes across. Toby Matthew, the Bishop of Durham, 
had welcomed the King as effusively as if he had 
never abused him ; and, of course, at Cecil's sugges- 
tion, had begged from James the restitution to him 
of the ancient palace of the See. Matthew got the 
palace, but very soon the ramshackle congeries of 
stables and outhouses on the Strand front were trans- 
ferred to Cecil, who built the new exchange called 
Britain's Burse upon the site, to the great advantage 
of himself and his successors ever since. Ralegh had 
spent large sums in repairing and partly rebuilding the 
river front ; he had lived undisturbed in the place for 
twenty years ; but he was turned out with every cir- 
cumstance of harshness. The King's warrant to the 
Lord Keeper and the Judges, dated 31st May 1603, 
sets forth that the law having decided that the persons 
' that now dwell in the Bishop of Duresme's house, 
called Duresme Place, have no right therein ' . . . 
they are to have notice to quit. Ralegh begged 
earnestly to be allowed to stay until Michaelmas, 
which the Bishop thought ' nothing reasonable,' and 
he was obliged to go by midsummer. He was also 
forbidden to remove any fixtures, ' which ' he wrote 
to the Lord Keeper Egerton, 'seemeth to mee very 
strange, seeinge that I have had possession of the 
howse these xx. yeares, and have bestowed well nere 
^2000 uppon the same.' He says that the meanest 
gentleman in England would have had six months' 



2 52 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

notice to quit, and even a poor artificer is en- 
titled to three months' notice from his landlord. 
He had, he said, laid in provisions and fodder for 
forty persons, and as many horses, ' and to remove my 
famyly and stuff in 14 days is such a severe expulsion 
as hath not bynn offered to any man before this daye.' 
But there was no consideration for Ralegh now, and 
he was obliged to go. 

Ralegh did not fall without a struggle. He pro- 
fessed the profoundest submission to the King's will. 
He offered to raise 2000 men with which to fight 
Spain if the King would strike at the enemy, which 
was now at the last gasp of exhaustion. He sought 
to gain the new King's ear with his patriotism and 
eloquence, as he had won that of his dead mistress. 
But he had a different sovereign to deal with. The 
base craven who had succeeded to the grand inherit- 
ance was all for truckling, and Ralegh could have 
taken no course more likely to be unpalatable to the 
Scottish Solomon than to give him bold and patriotic 
counsel. But though he tried in vain to win his way 
back to favour by submission and flattery of the man 
he must have despised, his proud heart must have 
raged with fury at the indignity to which he was 
subjected. The French Ambassador, Beaumont, 
writes to Villeroy in May that Ralegh had been 
dismissed. ' Dont le dit Sieur Ralle est en telle 
furie, que partant pour aller trouver le roy, il a 
proteste de lui faire declarer et faire voir par ecrit 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 253 

toute la caballe et les intelligences que le Sieur Cecil 
a dressees, et conduites a son prejudice.' Cecil 
himself, writing in August to inform Sir Thomas 
Parry of Ralegh's arrest, says, ' This hath been 
the cause. First, he hath been discontented in con- 
spectu omnium ever since the King came, and yet for 
those offices taken from him the King gave him ;/^300 
a year during his life. Secondly, his inwardness, 
or rather his governing Lord Cobham's spirit, made 
great suspicion that in these treasons he had part.' 
Now we see how the snare referred to by Howard 
to be set for them had been worked. Cobham was 
weak, shifty and garrulous ; his family had been lean- 
ing to the Spanish side for years, and he could easily 
be led into, or be detected in, a compromising position, 
whilst Ralegh could be drawn up by the same throw 
of the net, because of his ' inwardness ' with, and 
influence over Cobham, and yet Cobham was the 
brother-in-law, and Ralegh the life-long friend of Cecil. 
It was not to be expected that the Catholic party 
in England, which had learnt before Elizabeth's death 
of the intention of the King of Spain to help with all 
his might the English candidate they might choose, 
should calmly settle down to the new order of things 
which disappointed all their hopes. The decision of 
Philip III. was adopted too late for the plans to be 
carried into effect when the Oueen died, and it was 
natural that the ferment of the plot should work to the 
surface in some form or another before affairs became 



2 54 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

normal. For years disputes had raged in the bosom 
of the Catholic party in England, a reflection of those 
that existed amongst the exiles. The Jesuits, with 
Parsons in Rome or in Spain, were bound heart and 
soul to the Spanish interest, as we have seen. The 
secular priests, on the contrary, had, as time went on, 
resented the unquiet and unpatriotic action of the 
Jesuits, and had assumed the moderate attitude 
advocated by the French party and, generally 
speaking, by the Vatican. They resented the idea 
of having a king imposed upon England by Spanish 
pikes. If they could not have a Catholic sovereign 
they would put up with a Protestant, if only he 
would refrain from persecuting them. Two of the 
leaders of this party of priests — Watson and Clarke 
— disappointed that James had not consented to 
grant toleration, formed a plan in imitation of 
several that had been resorted to during James's 
youth in Scotland, of seizing him and extorting 
from him a decree of full religious toleration. 
Their confederates were few and unimportant, two or 
three Catholic gentlemen, Anthony Copley, Sir Griffin 
Markham, Lord Cobham's brother George Brooke, 
and, at first. Lord Grey de Wilton, who wanted 
toleration for the Puritans, but who was deceived 
with regard to the real objects of the plot. Any- 
thing which would have the effect of bringing about 
religious concord in England was naturally opposed 
to the objects of the Jesuit party, which aimed, at 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 255 

least, at Catholic supremacy ; and some of the Jesuit 
fathers who had heard of the plot communicated it 
to Cecil. The foolish and ill-considered conspiracy- 
was called the ' Bye ' or Priests' Treason, and there is 
no proof of any sort that Ralegh was connected 
with it ; although Cobham must at least have been 
cognisant of it. 

Copley was arrested on the 6th July. His de- 
clarations caused the apprehension of George Brooke 
on the 14th ; and orders were given for that of 
Markham, Lord Grey and the priests. On the 
day before, or the day of Brooke's arrest, Ralegh 
was walking on the terrace at Windsor, waiting 
to ride in the train of the King, Who was going 
hunting. Cecil approached him, and said that the 
Council wished to ask him some questions. He 
attended the chamber, and was asked whether he 
knew anything of the plot to surprise and seize the 
King, and he replied with truth that he did not. 
He was then interrogated as to his knowledge of 
plots in favour of Arabella, or of treasonable com- 
munications between his friend, Lord Cobham, and 
the Flemish ambassador, Count Aremberg. He 
professed ignorance of any such plots or communi- 
cations, and was then allowed to retire. In fact, 
George Brooke, while under examination about 
the ' Bye ' Conspiracy, had opened up a wider vista 
than that of the Priests' Treason, by confessing know- 
ledge of a more important plot being hatched between 



256 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

his brother, Cobham, and Count Aremberg ; and 
on the 19th July Cobham himself was interrogated 
by the Council, and denied all knowledge of the 
plot attributed to him by his brother. When 
Ralegh's interrogations had been concluded, he 
took a step which, in the obscurity which now 
surrounds the whole business, seems inexplicable, and 
which he himself subsequently confessed, brought 
about the ruin which ensued. Cobham was his 
friend and close political associate, and any proof of 
treason against him could hardly fail to affect Ralegh j 
and yet the latter, after his examination was ended, 
wrote to Cecil that he suspected that Cobham had 
intelligence with Aremberg — with whom he had, 
to the knowledge of the Cecils, carried on a cor- 
respondence for years — because after Cobham's 
visiting Durham House, Ralegh had seen him pass 
his own water gate at Blackfriars, and row over to 
St Saviours, Southwark, where there lodged a certain 
La Renzi, a follower of Aremberg's. This letter of 
Ralegh's, which was intended to be sent to the 
Council, was by Cecil's advice withheld. Cecil 
advised Ralegh not to speak of these suspicions, as 
the King did not wish to cast odium upon Aremberg, 
and Ralegh then told Cecil that if he did not lay 
hands on La Renzi the latter would escape, and 
the matter would never be discovered, and yet if 
La Renzi were arrested Cobham would at once 
suspect something. This was a fatal, and on the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 257 

face of it, a foolish thing for Ralegh to do ; for it 
inferred that he knew much more than he said, 
and placed him absolutely in Cecil's power. The 
letter he had written was immediately shown by 
Cecil to Cobham, who was then under examination. 
He fell into the trap, jumped to the conclusion that 
Ralegh had betrayed him, flew into a rage and 
denounced Ralegh. ' Oh, traitor ! Oh, villain ! I 
will now tell you all the truth,' he cried, and he 
then assured his examiners ' that he had never 
entered into these courses but by the instigation of 
Ralegh, who would never let him alone.' Not 
many minutes elapsed, however, before even foolish 
Cobham saw the fatal step he had taken in thus 
losing his temper j and before "he got to the 
stairs leading from the chamber he retracted what 
he had said in his passion about Ralegh. He 
adhered, however, to his previous statement that he 
had conferred with Aremberg about procuring a large 
sum of money — 6oo,000 crowns, he said — from the 
King of Spain, in the interests of peace between Eng- 
land and Spain, but had arranged that nothing further 
should be done in the matter 'until he had spoken 
to Sir Walter Ralegh for the distribution of the 
money to them which were discontented in England. 
Cobham was again examined on the 29th July, and 
quite cleared Ralegh of complicity in his dealings, 
and took the whole of the blame upon himself. 
This turn of affairs did not suit Cecil, who, having 

R 



258 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

gone so far, could not stop short now of ruining 
Raleo-h. The latter had been sent to the Tower 
immediately after Cobham's passionate denunciation 
of him on the 20th July, and it was easy to 
investigate any communications that had passed 
between him and Cobham since then, which might 
explain the latter's change of tone. After Ralegh's 
first examination at Windsor, when he professed 
entire ignorance of Cobham's intercourse with 
Aremberg, and presumably before he wrote the 
fatal letter of suspicion to Cecil, he had sent Captain 
Kemys to Cobham to say that the Council had asked 
certain questions about Cobham, but that he had 
cleared him ; and then, unfortunately, Kemys had 
added an exhortation to Cobham ' to be of good 
comfort, for one witness could not condemn a man 
for treason.' Ralegh says he gave Kemys no such 
compromising message, and this may be true ; but 
if Kemys invented the words himself he was certainly 
very badly inspired, for they were reported and made 
the most of against his master. This, however, was 
in the earlier stages. Between the 20th and 29th 
July, when both Ralegh and Cobham were in the 
Tower, the latter saw from his window young 
John Peyton, the son of the Governor, in conversa- 
tion with Ralegh. Some hours afterwards Peyton 
came to visit Cobham, and the latter mentioned 
that he had seen him talking with Ralegh. ' God 
forgive him ! He hath accused me, but I cannot 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 259 

accuse him.' Peyton replied, ' He doth say the like 
of you : that you have accused him, but he cannot 
accuse you.' 

The only person who seems to have been actively 
engaged in the tv/o separate sets of negotiations, 
respectively called the Bye or Priests' Treason, and 
the Main or Spanish Treason, was George Brooke. 
He, Copley, Watson the priest, and Lord Grey, were 
examined again and again. Statements wrung out of 
one prisoner were artfully dangled before another to 
induce further confidences, until each one seemed to 
compete with his fellows in his eagerness to make a 
clean breast of it. Brooke had been told at the 
beginning that the only way to procure favour ' is 
to open all that possibly you can.' He began by 
saying that ' the Bye Conspirators amongst them- 
selves thought Sir Walter Ralegh a fit man to be 
of the action.' This, it was clear, did not implicate 
Ralegh; but, as time went on, Brooke, either out 
of revenge or hope of favour, became ready to 
incriminate both him and Cobham as far as the 
examiners might desire. He was ready to drag in 
many other names — Sir George Carew, Sir Henry 
Brounker and others— but afterwards confessed that 
he had only thought they might be likely to be 
concerned in anything favourable to Lady Arabella. 
In a letter to the Council Brooke plainly indicates 
that he has made his reckless statements under 
promise of reward. ' Whilst I breathe, if not after, 



26o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

I shall claimc those promises I have receaved both 
from the King and your Lordships. . . . To object 
errors committed sure is a frivolous cavilation, seinge 
I have committed none but for w^ante of the direction 
required.' The testimony of this man who, Ralegh 
said at his trial, ' never loved him,' and ' had been 
taught his lesson,' was to the effect that his brother 
Cobham had told him that Ralegh was not in the Bye 
Plot, but only in the Main, the object of which, he 
said, was to take away the King and his issue, which 
on his conscience^ he thought had been suggested to his 
brother by Ralegh. Watson the priest deposed that 
Brooke had told him that Sir Walter Ralegh was upon 
the Main, the object of which was to destroy ' the 
King and all his cubs.' Watson also said that he 
had heard that the disturbances were to begin in 
Scotland, where he concluded that the Spaniards were 
to enter ; and Copley testified that Brooke had told 
him that Ralegh had suggested the commencement 
of disturbances in Scotland. I have transcripts of 
original documents in my possession which prove 
absolutely that this was untrue, so far as regards a 
project for a Spanish descent upon Scotland. The 
project had been a favourite one for many years with 
the Scottish Catholics, and had been embraced by 
Spain more than once, with the partial connivance of 
James himself j but shortly before Elizabeth's death, 
Francis Stuart, Earl of Bothwell, an exile in Madrid, 
had presented a complete plan for the introduction 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 261 

of Spanish troops into England through Scotland, and 
the names and particulars of all persons in favour of 
such action arc given. The scheme w^as examined by 
Philip IIL and his Council, and finally rejected, as 
it was considered that it would only benefit James, 
whom they could not trust. The idea of an intro- 
duction of a Spanish force through Scotland at the 
time in question was therefore absolutely at an end. 
La Renzi deposed that Ralegh had been present when 
he delivered letters to Cobham from Aremberg, but 
he alleged that the sole object of the letters was to 
procure peace. All these odds and ends of more or 
less suspicious testimony were carefully pieced to- 
gether, but even then the evidence was obviously 
inadequate upon which to put a great man on trial 
for his life. Cobham had withdrawn his incrimi- 
nating statement as soon as it was made, and Brooke's 
suborned testimony was the only direct evidence against 
him. Cobham's declarations were to the effect that 
his interviews and correspondence with Aremberg were 
with the object of negotiating for the King of Spain's 
providing Cobham with 500,000 or 600,000 crowns, 
to be distributed in England in the interests of a peace 
between the two countries ; that Cobham was to go 
to Spain to discuss the application of the money, and 
on his way home was to call at Jersey, and see Ralegh, 
further to discuss the same matter, only, Cobham added 
during his anger, that he was afraid that if once he 
put himself into Ralegh's power in Jersey he might 



262 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

hand him and the money over to James with an in- 
criminating statement. Ralegh's own statement to a 
certain extent bore out this. He said that Cobham 
had offered him 10,000 crowns of the money for the 
furthering of peace between England and Spain ; but 
that he had answered, ' When I see the money I will 
make answer, for I thought it one of his ordinary idle 
conceits, and therefore made no account thereof; but 
this was, I think, before Count Aremberg's coming 
over.' 

Ralegh knew that, with the procedure then adopted 
against prisoners for treason, he could hope neither for 
fairness nor impartiality on the part of his judges. He 
was keenly conscious of his unpopularity with the 
people, the King's dislike of him, and the bitter 
jealousy of the nobles, who had always hated him as 
an insolent upstart. It has been remarked that, like 
most sanguine and imaginative men, he easily fell into 
profound despair. Only a day after his arrival in the 
Tower he attempted to kill himself with a table knife, 
but merely inflicted a slight wound. Although for 
the authenticity of the pathetic and beautiful letter 
to his wife on the eve of his attempt there is not 
sufficient warrant for its reproduction here, there 
can be no reasonable doubt of the act itself. Bio- 
graphers of Ralegh have sought to explain it accord- 
ing to their bias, some as an evidence of guilt, some 
otherwise. To me it seems that the man who could 
fall into the depths of misery expressed in Ralegh's 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 263 

letters, when the Oueen had frowned upon him, would 
be extremely likely to descend to the level of suicide 
under the circumstances of utter ruin which faced him 
now. But this was only a first impulse of despair, 
and as the toils closed around him his great mind bent 
to the task of saving himself. He had been compelled 
to resign the Lord Wardenship of the Stannaries, and 
had been dismissed the Governorship of Jersey, in which 
he had been replaced by his late gaoler, Peyton. He 
was aware that the loose gossip of men like Watson and 
Brooke would not be sufficient to condemn him, if it 
were not confirmed by Cobham's declarations. In 
October Cobham requested the new Governor of 
the Tower, Sir George Harvey, to be allowed to 
write a letter to the Council exculpating Ralegh. 
* God is my witness,' he said, ' it doth touch my con- 
science. I would fain have the words that the Lords 
used of my barbarousness in accusing him falsely. 
Harvey concealed this request, and did nothing ; de- 
sirous, doubtless, of pleasing Cecil. Soon afterwards, 
Ralegh caused an apple, enclosing a letter, to be 
thrown into Cobham's window in the Wardrobe 
Tower, praying him to do him justice, and to confess 
that he had wronged him by his accusations. Cob- 
ham answered this by a letter which did not seem 
sufficiently explicit to Ralegh, who begged him again 
to clear him at his trial. Instead of this Cobham 
wrote a letter including the following lines, which it 
is difficult to believe are insincere, notwithstanding 



264 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

what followed at the trial, which will be related in the 
next chapter : ' Seeing myself so near my end, for the 
discharge of my own conscience, and freeing myself 
from your blood, which else will cry vengeance 
against me, I protest upon my salvation I never 
practised with Spain by your procurement. God so 
comfort me in this my affliction as you are a true 
subject for anything that I know. I will say as 
Daniel : Purus sum a sanguine hujus. So God have 
mercy upon my soul, as I know no treason by you.' 
This letter was carefully concealed by Ralegh to be 
produced in due time in his own refutation. 



CHAPTER XII 

Ralegh's trial at Winchester — condemned to 

death his prayers for life reprieve in 

the tower 

In November 1603 the plague was raging in London 
and the law courts were transferred to Winchester. 
The indictment against Ralegh was for plotting with 
Cobham and Brooke 'to deprive the King of his 
crown and dignity ; to subvert the Government and 
alter the true religion established in England, and to 
levy war against the King.' It had been formally 
presented at Staines on the 21st September, when the 
jury was carefully packed and the proceedings ad- 
journed. Early in November Sir William Waad 
was instructed to convey Ralegh to Winchester for 
trial. The prisoner went in his own coach in charge 
of Sir Robert Mansel, * and,' writes Mr Hicks to Lord 
Shrewsbury, ' it was almost incredible what bitter 
speeches they, the mob, exclaimed against him as 
he went along ; which general hatred of the people 
would be to me worse than death ; but he neglected 

265 



266 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

and scorned it as from base and rascal people.' 
Waad himself reported to Cecil that it was ' touch- 
and - go whether Ralegh could be brought alive 
through such multitudes of unruly people as did 
exclaim against him.' The trial had been postponed 
until Aremberg had departed, loaded with presents 
and loving messages from James, who tried his 
hardest to persuade Beaumont, the French Ambassador, 
that Aremberg was quite unconnected with the 
affair, even after he had shown him the intercepted 
letters which proved his communications with Cob- 
ham. There was now nothing to prevent the sac- 
rifice of Ralegh, whom, said Beaumont, James both 
feared and hated. The shameful scene took place 
in the Palace of the Bishops of Winchester, fitted 
up as a Court of King's Bench, and by special com- 
mission Ralegh's bitter enemy Henry Howard, his false 
friend Cecil, and Sir William Waad, were associated 
on the bench with the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of 
Suffolk (Ralegh's old friend Lord Thomas Howard), 
the Earl of Devonshire (Blount), Lord Wotton, Sir 
John Stanhope, the two chief justices, Popham and 
Anderson, and two Puisne judges, Warburton and 
Gawdy. The prosecution was conducted by Coke, 
the attorney-general, a truculent scoundrel, whose 
vile abuse of the prisoner was so scandalous as to be 
rebuked even by Cecil ; and from the moment that 
Ralegh appeared in court the result of the trial 
was a foregone conclusion. The general feeling in 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 267 

England was that he was guilty, but that the evidence 
was not strong enough to convict him. This latter 
circumstance, however, did not trouble Coke in the 
least. Ralegh pleaded Not guilty, and begged, as 
his health was broken and his memory impaired, 
that he might be allowed to answer the points of 
the indictment separately as they occurred ; but Coke 
objecting, this was only permitted as the proofs were 
produced, and not as the points were set forth. The 
particulars of the trial have been so frequently printed 
that it will not be necessary to reproduce them here, 
but one or two samples of the mockery of justice may 
be quoted. With insult and vituperation unexampled 
in a court of law, Coke set forth the evidence that 
had been raked together against Cobham, and even 
against the conspirators of the Bye, in which it was 
admitted that Ralegh had no part. Ralegh protested 
that all this did not touch him in the least. He urged 
that the mere statements of the Attorney-General, with- 
out proof, were not evidence against him. ' I do not 
yet hear that you have spoken one word against me. 
Here is no treason of mine done. If my Lord Cobham 
be a traitor, what is that to me ? ' ' All that he did,' 
replied Coke, ' was by thy instigation, thou viper ! 
for I thou thee, thou traitor. I will prove thee the 
rankest traitor in all England.' With a wit, readiness 
and resource, almost marvellous under the circum- 
stances, Ralegh struggled against the inevitable. 
Whenever he seemed to be gaining a point, or the 



268 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Attorney-General's vituperation ran short, Cecil or 
Henry Howard interposed with a speech as a diver- 
sion. None of the ordinary decent etiquette of a 
court of justice was preserved, even for appearance 
sake, and the whole proceeding was a tragic tra- 
vesty. On one occasion Coke shouted, 'Your intent 
was to set up the Lady Arabella as a titular Queen, 
and to depose our present rightful King. You pre- 
tend that this money was to forward the peace with 
Spain. Your jargon was peace, which meant Spanish 
invasion and Scottish subversion,' to which Ralegh 
replied, ' Let me answer ; it concerns my life.' ' Thou 
shalt not,' bellowed Coke ; and Popham, the chief 
justice, bade the prisoner be silent. When Ralegh 
got his chance at last, he denied, eloquently and 
fervently, that he had ever entered into any plots 
with Cobham ; and demanded to be confronted with 
him. With glowing force he called to witness his 
past life, his constant struggles against Spain ever 
since he could bear arms. He knew, he said, how 
poor, weak and impotent Spain had become. Was 
he a madman, he asked, to make himself a Jack Cade 
for the sake of Spain now ? Of what Cobham had 
done he knew nothing. ' But for my knowing that 
he had conspired these things with Spain for Arabella 
against the King, I protest before Almighty God I 
am as clear as whosoever here is freest. Ralegh begged 
earnestly, but in vain, to be confronted with Cobham. 
If he, Cobham, on his honour, said that he had been 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 269 

instigated by him to treasonable plots in the interests 
of Spain, then he, Ralegh, would submit to be dealt 
with as the Kiiig willed. Ralegh stood firm in the 
possession of Cobham's letter, already quoted, solemnly 
absolving him from all share of blame. It looked 
almost as if it would be impossible to convict him 
without manifest scandal, when Coke produced his 
coup de theatre. Poor, weak, storm-tossed Cobham 
had been ' got at ' — Ralegh said, probably with 
truth — by his wife, the Countess of Kildare, who was 
a Howard, and persuaded to buy favour by recant- 
ing his retractation, and again to accuse Ralegh. 
Coke read the letter in triumph. ' I have thought 
fit, in duty to my Sovereign,^ it said, *and in dis- 
charge of my conscience, to set this down to your 
Lordships ; wherein I protest, upon my soul, to write 
nothing but what is true. For I am not ignorant 
of my present condition, and now to dissemble with 
God is no time.' Then he tells how Ralegh had 
induced him in the Tower to write the letter absolv- 
ing him ; and how the truth was that Ralegh had 
proposed to him to obtain from Aremberg a pension 
of _^I500 a year from Spain to aid her interests and 
to report all that happened in England. Upon 
Ralegh he throws once more the whole blame of 
his ruin. The story of throwing the apple into 
Cobham's window was recounted, and Ralegh's 
letters to him disclosed ; and then all hope for 
acquittal was gone, and Ralegh was found guilty. 



270 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Before the verdict was given the prisoner again 
spoke vigorously of Cobham's instability, and read 
the letter he had written absolving him, but all to 
no purpose, for the incriminating letter was later. 
He solemnly declared that he was innocent of any 
negotiations with Spain, that he knew nothing of any 
practices in favour of Arabella Stuart, and that he 
was ignorant of Cobham's dealings with Aremberg. 

Then Popham's turn came, and he made the most 
of it. Coke's abuse had been virulent, but the Lord 
Chief Justice, in passing sentence of death, surpassed 
him in insult ; and so one of the most undignified 
and scandalous pages in English jurisprudence came 
to a fitting close. 

An eye-witness of the trial thus speaks of Ralegh's 
part in it : ' He did as much as wit of man could 
advise to clear himself. ... Sir Walter Ralegh served 
for a whole act and played all the parts himself. . . . 
He answered with that wit, learning, courage and 
judgment, that, save that it went with the hazard of 
his life, it was the happiest day that he had ever spent. 
And so well he shifted all advantages that were taken 
against him, that, were not fama ?nalum gfavius quam 
res, and an ill name half hanged, in the opinion of all 
men, he would have been acquitted.' 

Beaumont, the French Ambassador, echoed the 
general opinion when he said that Ralegh was 
probably guilty, but had been illegally condemned. 
It is certain that the evidence produced against 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 271 

him was absurdly inadequate. It was mostly loose 
gossip, depending upon Brooke, whose object in 
accusing his brother and Ralegh is difficult to under- 
stand, unless it was to save his own life, in which he 
failed. On the scaffold he hinted at some mystery 
behind it, which would surely come to light, and said 
something secretly which greatly alarmed Cecil, but 
which was never made public. The whole of the cir- 
cumstances, however, which surround his evidence de- 
prive it of any weight as against Ralegh. Cobham's 
frequent accusations and retractations are so contradic- 
tory of each other that it is impossible to arrive at 
anything like a final conclusion with regard to them. 
The letter, so triumphantly rea^d by Coke in Court, 
does not appear, on examination, to be so incriminating 
of Ralegh as was hastily assumed at the trial. The 
writer asserts that Ralegh had promoted his discontent 
at the new order of things, which, if true, was per- 
fectly natural, and certainly not treasonable ; and that 
he had asked him to obtain a pension from Spain for 
giving information ; and some colour is given to this 
by Ralegh's declaration, although, according to Cob- 
ham, he had taken no step in the matter. It is quite 
probable that this latter accusation was true. During 
Elizabeth's reign many of her ministers were con- 
stantly in the pay of Spain. Lord Henry Howard, 
Ralegh's enemy and judge, had been the chief spy 
for years. Cobham's kinsman. Sir Edward Stafford, 
the English Ambassador in Paris, had sold to Spain 



272 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

every secret he possessed up to the time of the 
Armada. Cecil himself was a Spanish pensioner, and 
we have seen how Ralegh had offered his services in 
1586. The loose political morality of the time made 
such an offence venial, and there is nothing more 
likely than that Ralegh did make such a suggestion 
to Cobham. That Cobham himself was engaged 
before Elizabeth's death in the arrangement with 
Spain which I have described in previous pages, I 
have no doubt — half the nobility of England were 
so engaged — and it is extremely likely that Ralegh 
may have been sympathetic after he heard that the 
Spaniards would help any native candidate that might 
be chosen against the King of Scots. All this was 
certainly not treasonable until James had been ac- 
cepted by the nation as King ; and although Ralegh 
would naturally be discontented as a disgraced favourite 
and ruined courtier, there is not the remotest evidence, 
except Cobham's subsequent unsupported accusations 
at his (Cobham's) trial, that after the accession of 
James Ralegh had proposed a plot for the landing of 
a Spanish force at Milford Haven or elsewhere. The 
Spanish State papers conclusively prove that no such 
project was entertained at the time. The whole life 
record of Ralegh, moreover, was against it. A careful 
consideration of such documentary evidence as exists 
convinces me that Ralegh was not a party to any 
plot to depose James by the help of Spain, but that 
he was quite willing to accept a pension from the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 273 

latter ; and that, before Elizabeth's deathy he be- 
longed to the very large party in England which 
was opposed to the Scottish domination of their 
country. When he was approached — as he must 
have been — shortly before the Queen's death, with 
the news that the Infanta had finally abandoned 
her claim, and that Spain would now support any 
candidate chosen by the English, who would grant 
toleration and peace, he would no doubt welcome 
such an apparently safe and patriotic solution of 
the difficulty ; not that he had any particular sym- 
pathy for Arabella, but to prevent the subjugation 
of the greater country by the lesser. This was 
probably the foundation of all --of Cobham's tergiver- 
sation. Ralegh, however, was far too worldly wise 
and ambitious to oppose established facts ; and I am 
convinced that, after James' accession, he did not plot 
to depose him. The doubt expressed by Cobham as 
to whether Ralegh did not intend to betray him, if 
he went to Jersey, is unsupported, except by the 
gossip of Ralegh's enemies. Southampton certainly 
believed it, as did Bishop Goodman ; but Ralegh's 
character was considered so unprincipled by his con- 
temporaries that they would be sure to adopt the 
most ungenerous view of his intentions. Brooke was 
beheaded in the castle yard at Winchester on the 
1 6th December, full of vague hints of mystery behind 
his statements ; but he said nothing definite, except to 
withdraw the words he had attributed to his brother 



274 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

about the ' fox and his cubs.' The priests, Watson 
and Clarice, were submitted to the inhuman torture 
imposed for high treason : half-hanged, cut down, 
their entrails torn from their living bodies, and their 
quarters exposed on the city gates. But James was 
not fond of blood. His councillors urged him not to 
begin his reign by severity, and his Queen used all 
her influence in Ralegh's favour. Peace with Spain, 
moreover, was in the air, and James desired it of all 
things. Areniberg's reception had encouraged the 
coming of a Spanish Ambassador, for the first time 
for twenty years. He was that Don Juan Bautista 
de Tassis, through whom Mary Stuart had conveyed 
her assurance of exclusive attachment to the Spanish 
interests. He, too, begged the King to be merciful 
to the condemned. It could not be questioned that 
their execution would be a jarring note in the concord 
which was being so laboriously concluded between the 
two countries, and in the interests of which De Tassis 
was giving and promising vast sums of money to the 
men who surrounded the King. But to all prayers 
for mercy James affected to be deaf, and planned a 
mystification thoroughly characteristic of him. On 
the 8th December he signed the death warrants for 
Cobham, Grey and Markham, whose execution was 
fixed for the 9th. What followed may be told in 
Cecil's own words, written to Winwood, on the 
1 2th December, from Wilton. ' It remaineth that 
I tell you what succeeded of the rest ; wherein if 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 275 

you could as well by relation apprehend all the cir- 
cumstances as we did, you would, equally with us, 
admire the excellent mixture of the King's mercy 
with justice, for even after he had first absolutely 
taught us all our duties, to leave all mediation in this 
case (mercy being only his), he signed three warrants 
for the execution of the two Lords, Cobham and 
Grey, with Sir Griffin Markham, all to be done on 
the same day, Friday following, pretending to forbear 
Sir Walter Ralegh for the present, until Lord Cob- 
ham's death had given some light how far he would 
make good his accusation. Which being done (God 
of Heaven doth know it), we here at Wilton expected 
nothing till Friday at 9 o'clock, ta hear from Win- 
chester of their execution : until it pleased the King 
that very morning here at Wilton to call his Council 
together, and told them what order he had taken ; 
to which, upon my credit and reputation, he made 
no soul living privy, the messenger excepted, whom 
he dispatched the day before with the warrant, written 
all in his own hand, which was used in manner follow- 
ing : Sir Griffin Markham, whose turn was first to be 
executed, being brought forth upon the scaffold at 
the hour appointed, and there having made his prayers 
and spoken what else he thought good, prepared him- 
self to lay down his head for the stroke, at which 
instant one Mr Gibb, a Scottish gentleman of the 
King's bed chamber, who was the messenger, stepped 
forth and drew the Sheriff^ aside, presenting him his 



276 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

warrant ; whereupon the Sheriff (not making any 
show at all of what he received, nor giving the least 
cause to hope for that which afterwards followed) 
turned again to the prisoner, and told him he was 
to go forth of the place for a while, causing him to 
be led down into the Castle hall, not far from the 
place of execution. In the meanwhile. Lord Grey 
was sent for, who, doing much as the other had done 
before him, with a full resolution to die, after his 
prayers ended and his preparation otherwise made, 
was commanded likewise to be led down from the 
place to the Castle hall, which proceeding of the 
Sheriff neither of them apprehended to their least 
comfort, but imagined it was for some other purpose. 
Now, this being done, the next turn was Lord Cob- 
ham's, who was brought forth upon the scaffold, and 
there made himself as ready to die as the rest, till the 
Sheriff commanded his execution ta be stayed for a 
while, sending for the other two forth of the hall, 
and then, being all three together on the scaffold, he 
signified his Majesty's gracious pleasure unto them 
all, which was received, as well of themselves as of 
all the standers by, with such joy and admiration 
as so rare and unheard of clemency most worthily 
deserved.' 

Markham, we are told by an eyewitness was ' sad 
and heavy, the very picture of sorrow,' although his 
demeanour was fearless and dignified. Lord Grey, 
devout Puritan as he was, beloved, popular and brave, 



.SIR WALTER RALEGH 277 

was bright and cheerful, surrounded by friends, and 
fully reconciled to death. He prayed long and 
fervently in the drizzling rain that fell, and then 
once again protested the truth, that he had never 
plotted treason. He had, in fact, been drawn into 
the Bye or Priests' Conspiracy by misrepresentation, 
and had retired from it when he understood its scope 
and objects. ' His going away seemed more strange 
unto him than his coming thither, for he had no 
more hope given him than of an hour's respite. 
Neither could any man yet dive into the mysteries of 
this strange proceeding.' 

Cobham's fortitude on the scaffold was a strong 
contrast to his demeanour during his imprisonment 
and trial. It was probably the fortitude of despair. 
He answered that 'what he had said of Sir Walter 
Ralegh is true, as he hoped for his soul's resurrection,' 
but which of the many conflicting statements he had 
made about him he referred to is not clear. His 
latest accusation, with regard to the proposal for 
bringing Spanish troops to Milford, was the most 
damning ; but no dates are given in it, and even if it 
were true, and referred to a period before the Queen's 
death, it was not treason against James. Cobham's 
own letters, indeed, to Cecil, speak of the plans 
with regard to Arabella as having been abandoned 
long before, in all probability when James's acces- 
sion was assured. During all the tragi - comedy 
of the deferred executions at Winchester, Ralegh 



278 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

had sat at a window in full view of the scaffold. 
Through the silver veil of fine rain he had watched, 
with wondering eyes, the successive disappearance of 
the prisoners from the place of the execution, and the 
reappearance of them together to be harangued by 
the Sheriff. He must then have understood, though 
he was out of earshot, that his companions in mis- 
fortune were not to die ; and shortly afterwards his 
own reprieve was communicated to him. 

Ralegh's conduct on many occasions prove him to 
have been a man of undaunted courage. It was 
common for him in his periods of disappointment and 
distress to pray and yearn for death ; and yet, such is 
the perversity of human nature, no poltroon could have 
begged for life more abjectly than he did. To the 
Lords of the Council, to Cecil, to the King, in turn, he 
addressed his beseeching letters for bare life. Lord 
Grey, with greater dignity, was deej)ly distressed at 
the disgrace which was to fall upon his illustrious 
house, but disdained to sue for his life. Ralegh, on 
the other hand, threw his dignity to the winds, and 
both he, personally, and his agonised wife, prayed, with 
a humility that approaches baseness, that his life might 
be spared on any terms. After his abject letters to the 
Lords, Ralegh himself appears to have become ashamed 
of them. He writes to his wife : ' Get those letters, 
if it be possible, which I wrote to the Lords, 
wherein I sued for my life. God knows that it was 
for you and yours that I desired it. But it is true 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 279 

that I disdain myself for begging it.' This letter to 
his wife was written in December, when he thought 
all hope was gone, and it is a beautiful specimen of 
pathetic English. A few short extracts only can be 
given here. ' You shall receive, dear wife, my last 
words in these my last lines. My love I send you, 
that you may keep it when I am dead, and my 
counsel, that you may remember it when I am no 
more. I would not with my last will present you 
with sorrows, dear Bess. Let them go to the grave 
with me, and be buried with me in the dust. And, 
seeing it is not the will of God that I shall ever see 
you in this life, beare my destruction gentlie, and with 
a heart like yourself. First, I send you all the thanks 
my heart can conceive, or my peri expresse, for your 
many troubles and cares taken for me, which — though 
tiiey have not taken effect as you wished — yet my 
debt is to you never the less ; but pay it I never shall, 
in this world.' After begging her not to mourn him 
long, advising her to marry again, and deploring the 
poor fortune he leaves behind him for her and their 
son, he proceeds, ' Remember your poore childe, for 
his father's sake, that comforted you and loved you in 
his happiest times, and know itt, dear wife, that your 
Sonne is the childe of a true man, who, in his own 
respect, despiseth death and all his misshapen and ugly 
forms. I cannot write much. God knowes howe 
hardlie I stole this tymc when all sleep ; and it is 
time to separate my thoughts from the world. Bcgg 



28o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

my dead body, which, living, was denyed you ; and 
either lay itt at Sherborne or in Exeter Church, by my 
father and mother. I can write no more j tyme and 
death call me awaye. 

* The everlasting, infinite, powerfull, and inscrutable 
God : that Almighty God that is goodness itself, 
mercy itself, the true light and life, keep you and 
yours, and have mercy on me, and teach me to 
forgive my persecutors and false accusers, and send 
us to meet in His glorious kingdom. My true 
wife, farewell. Blesse my poore boye. Pray for me. 
My true God hold you both in His armes. Written 
with the dying hand of sometyme thy husband, but 
now, alas ! overthrowne. Yours that was, but now 
not my owne. W. Ralegh.' This was the true 
Ralegh, in his better moments, and it is difficult to 
understand how the fine spirit that prompted such 
utterances could stoop to address his 'Most dread 
Sovereigne,' the despicable James Stuart, in such 
terms as these. ' But the greate God so relieve me 
and mine in both worlds, as I was the contrary (of 
discontented), and as I tooke no greater comfort than 
to behold Your Majesty, and always learning some 
good, and bettering my knowledge by Your Majesty's 
discourse. . . . For myself, I protest before the ever- 
lasting God, and to my master and Sovereign, that I 
never invented treason, consented to treason, nor per- 
formed treason against him ; and yet I know that I 
shall fall, in ?nanus eoruni a quibus yion possum exsurgere., 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 281 

unless by Your Majesty's great compassion I be sus- 
tained. ... I do therefore, on the knees of my hart, 
beseich Your Majesty to take counsel from your own 
sweet and mercifull disposition, and to remember that 
I have loved Your Majesty now twenty years, for 
which Your Majesty hath yett given me no reward. 
And it is fitter that I should be indebted to my 
Sovereign Lord, than the King to his poore vassall. 
Save me, therefore, most merciful Prince, that I 
may owe to Your Majesty my life itself, than which 
there cannot be a greater debt. Lend it to me at 
least, my Sovereign Lord, that I may pay it agayne 
for your service, when Your Majesty shall please. 
If the law destroy me. Your Majesty shall put me 
out of your power ; and I shall have then none to 
fear, none to reverence but the King of Kings — ' 
and Ralegh signs this 'your penitent vassall.' To 
the Council he writes : ' For the mercy of God do 
not doubt to move so mercifull a prince to compas- 
sion, and that the extremity of all extremities be 
not laid on me. Lett the offence be esteemed as 
your Lordships shall please in charity to believe it, 
and value it ; yet it is but my first offence, and my 
service to my country, and my love so many years 
to my supreme Lord, I trust may move so greate 
and goode a kinge, who was never esteemed cruel. . . . 
And if I may not begg a pardon or a life, yet lett 
me begg a tyme at the King's merciful hands. Lett 
me have one year in prison to give to God and to 



282 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

serve Hyme. I trust his pitiful nature will have 
compassion on my sov^rle ; and it is my sow^le that 
beggeth a tyme of the Kinge.' 

The arrogant favourite, w^ho, in the days of his 
splendour, had ridden roughshod over ancient nobles 
w^ho had dared to become his rivals for the Queen's 
smile, could fall no low^er than this, let the reason 
for his supplication have been w^hat it may. 

Ralegh and his fellow-prisoners were brought to the 
Tower of London less than a week after the farce 
on the scaffold at Winchester. Thence they were 
conveyed to the Fleet, and so backward and forward, 
between the two prisons, several times before Ralegh 
finally settled down with his wife and child in the 
not incommodious rooms in the Bloody Tower. 

His love of life was still strong within him. Whilst 
he lived the possibilities of his indomitable energy and 
powerful intellect were unbounded, and his busy mind 
was full of vast and far-reaching plans. True, he was 
a ruined man, and his enemies triumphed over him to 
the utmost. All his offices were forfeited. The wine 
patent was granted to the Lord Admiral. Sherborne 
and the other estates were in the hands of royal com- 
missioners, creditors were clamouring for payment, 
rapacious agents were plundering everything they 
could grasp, and, for a time, it looked as if beggary 
as complete as that which fell upon Cobham, would 
afflict Ralegh. But his brave wife struggled hard, 
and Cecil did his best to help her. Now that there 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 283 

was no danger of rivalry from Ralegh in the King's 
favour, some of his old friendship came back again. 
He had no desire to compass his death or absolute 
ruin ; but that Ralegh should ever become the chief 
adviser of the new King he was determined at any 
cost to prevent. When once this danger was at an 
end Cecil had no particular reason for carrying his 
rancour to further extremes, and during the rest of 
his life remained in friendly communication with Lady 
Ralegh. Ralegh had many a hard struggle yet before 
he could feel sure that he and his would be saved from 
penury. The Sherborne estate, whilst in the charge of 
the royal commissioners, had been stripped and rifled ; 
his plate was 'all lost, or eaten out with interest,' at 
Chenie's the goldsmith in Lombard' Street ; his agent 
in the patent of wines, Saunderson, made ruinous 
claims against him ; and for the first few months of 
his imprisonment, sometimes in the Tower, sometimes 
in the Fleet, it was a constant struggle to save some 
shreds of his wasted fortune. From the first he was 
beset with difficulties about Sherborne. In 1602 he 
had executed a conveyance of the estates to his son, 
subject to a charge in favour of Lady Ralegh, and 
his own life interest. By the intervention of Cecil 
the interests of the lady and her son were respected 
on Ralegh's attainder, and the estates conveyed for 
60 years in trust for them. But, by an omission 
of the clerk, who engrossed the deed of 1602, 
certain necessary words were lacking. The crown 



284 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

lawyers declared that the deed was void, and that the 
estates had consequently been vested only in Ralegh ; 
but no fresh action was taken, and here the matter 
remained for some years, the revenues, or such of 
them as could be rescued from the unjust steward 
Meeres, being received and employed by Lady Ralegh 
in the maintenance of her husband and family. When 
the prisoner at last settled in the Tower there began 
the long battle of the active soaring spirit against the 
numbing monotony of a gaol. Like the seabird dash- 
ing itself to death against a lighthouse, the restless 
energies of Ralegh beat themselves in vain against 
the walls of his prison. But though his body grew 
cold and pulseless, and his hair turned to snow, his 
great intellect shone the brighter in the gloom that 
surrounded it. 



CHAPTER XIII 

PRAYERS FOR PARDON — ^LIFE IN THE TOWER THE 

SHERBORNE ESTATE GIVEN TO CAR PRINCE 

HENRY AND QUEEN ANNE THE ' HISTORY OF 

THE WORLD ' NEW PLANS FOR AN EXPEDITION 

TO GUIANA— RELEASE FROM THp TOWER 

Ralegh was ever a good suppliant. During the 
whole of his life he was begging favours for himself 
or Others, apparently never contented or satisfied. 
When, after the reprieve of Cobham, Grey and Mark- 
ham, he sent his last prayer for life to the Council, 
he wrote : ' The Lord of Heaven doth know that if 
it shall pleas my most gracious Lord the King to 
geve mee that poore life, that I shall as faythfully 
and thankfully serve hyme, eating but bread and 
drinking water, as whosoever that hath receved even 
the greatest honour or the greatest profyte. For a 
greater gift none can geve, none receve, than life. . . . 
My Lords, do me this grace to believe, and vouchsafe 
to say it for mee to my Soverayne Lorde, that the loss 
of my estate, which I have deservedly lost, cannot 

285 



286 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

make me less faythful or less lovinge both to his 
state and person.' But no sooner was his life granted, 
and almost blasphemous thanks given for it to the 
King, than the prayers for fresh favours became inces- 
sant. He w^rote to Cecil, praying that his lands might 
be restored to him personally, in order that he might 
pay his debts and maintain himself in the Tovi^er. 
Then he boldly prays the Lord Treasurer for liberty 
as the * Bye ' Conspirators had been released ; and this 
being fruitless, he beseeches the King himself in the 
most servile terms to have mercy upon a miserable 
prisoner. This was on the 2ist January 1604, only 
a few weeks after he had been saved from the scaffold, 
and Cecil plainly told Lady Ralegh that, ' as for a 
pardon, it could not be done.' But still he continued 
to beg of Cecil. ' If I may not be here about London 
(which God cast my sowle into hell if I desire, but 
to do your Lordship some service) I shall be most 
contented to be confined within the Hundred of 
Sherborne, or if I cannot be allowed so much, I shall 
be contented to live in Holland.' His private affairs, 
his liberty, his comfort in the Tower, his property, 
were all the subjects of unceasing petitions to Cecil, 
to his son Lord Cranborne, to the Council, to the 
King. His petitions were eloquent, pathetic, plain- 
tive, as usual ; but it is extremely difficult to reconcile 
them with the possession of any real dignity of mind 
in the writer. No sooner was one favour wrung 
out than another one was prayed for, with the same 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 287 

lachrymose persistence as the last. Disappointed 
ambition and chafing energy wore out the prisoner's 
health. His apartments in the Bloody, or Garden, 
Tower, were large enough for the accommodation of 
himself, his wife and son, a second son, Carew, who 
was born in the Tower soon after his imprisonment, 
Lady Ralegh's maid, and other servants. He had 
the use of a terrace overlooking the Tower- wharf and 
the river, and was allowed the occupation of a small 
out-house in the garden for his chemical experiments ; 
but the place was damp, so near the Thames and the 
moat, and almost from the first the prisoner com- 
plained that the confinement was killing him. ' He 
was in daily danger of death,' he §aid, ' by the palsy 
that afflicted him, and of nightly suffocation by wasted 
and obstructed lungs.' Then the plague broke out 
in a neighbouring lodging, and he clamoured for 
removal to another place, if he might not be released. 
At last, in 1606, the physicians reported that he was 
really ill. The whole of one side of him was cold, 
his fingers were contracted, and it was feared that he 
was losing the power of speech ; and this report 
effected what Ralegh's own prayers had been unable 
to obtain, a change in his lodging. He was allowed 
to build a little room attached to the out-house in the 
garden, and to make it his chamber. Within the 
limits of his prison the restless energy of Ralegh at 
length found food for occupation which afforded him 
solace, and has done much to enhance his reputation 



288 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

v/ith posterity. His twelve years of incessant literary 
labour in the Tower have left behind him a permanent 
memorial of his marvellous and far-reaching powers, 
which, but for his enforced seclusion, would, in all 
probability, never have been produced, and the extent 
of Ralegh's genius would not have been understood. 
Such of his servants as could not find room in the 
Tower lived hard by, and were in constant attendance 
upon him, especially the Indians he had brought from 
Guiana with him. His friends and relatives were 
allowed to visit him freely with books and news. He 
frequently dined with Sir George Harvey, the Governor 
of the Tower, and in many ways was treated with 
leniency. His chemical and mineralogical researches in 
the laboratory at first occupied much of his time, and 
in the intervals of labour he was able to satisfy his 
vanity by parading on the terrace, splendidly dressed 
as usual, in full view of the crowds on the wharf, who 
came far and near to see so famous a man ; for there 
had been a curious revulsion of public feeling in his 
favour after his condemnation. But Sir William 
Waad, who for so many years had been Clerk of 
the Council, was appointed to the Governorship of 
the Tower in August 1605, and such proceedings 
were looked upon suspiciously. First a brick wall 
was built before the Bloody Tower gate ; and then, 
in 1608, Waad formally complained to Cecil that 
* Sir Walter Ralegh doth show himself upon the wall 
of his garden to the view of the people who gaze 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 289 

upon him, and he stareth upon them. Which he 
doeth in his cunning humour, that it might be thought 
his being before the Council was rather to clear than 
to charge him ' ; and thenceforward whilst Waad was 
in command many petty restrictions were placed upon 
both Ralegh and his wife — the latter being forbidden 
to drive her coach in the courtyard, and the like. 
Though he was a close prisoner, it pleased the Govern- 
ment to suspect him of complicity in every seditious 
practice. He was examined about the Gunpowder 
Plot, and several times during the next few years, on 
the reports of spies, or in the hope of fishing out 
some secret, Ralegh was interrogated by the Council. 
Once in 16 10, on some trifling excuse, he was con- 
demned to close imprisonment for three months, and 
Lady Ralegh was excluded from the Tower. 

The fame of his chemical experiments, and of 
his wonderful curative balsam from Guiana, had 
captured the public imagination. He was a necro- 
mancer, a show for gaping wonder-seekers ; and the 
man whom in his splendour all the world had hated 
now became almost a popular hero in his misfortune. 

In the midst of his studies and learned seclusion in 
1608, a terrible new blow fell upon him. The con- 
veyance by him of the Sherborne estates to his son 
and wife in 1602 had been pronounced informal in con- 
sequence of the accidental omission of some necessary 
words, and the crown lawyers consequently contended 
that the King's confirmation of Lady Ralegh and her 



290 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

son's possession of it was invalid, and that the estate 
was vested in Ralegh himself, by whose conviction it 
became escheated to the crown. It was proposed to 
Ralegh that he and his family should join in re-granting 
the fee-simple of the estates to the King for _^8ooo. 
Ralegh knew well that such a proposal was a command. 
In vain he pleaded that the fee-simple did not belong 
to them, that they would be ruined ; in vain Lady 
Ralegh and her children cast themselves at the King's 
feet, and prayed that they might not be despoiled and 
rendered homeless. Whether James uttered the 
heartless words, quoted by Carew Ralegh, popu- 
larly attributed to him, ' Na ! na ! I maun hae the 
land. I maun hae it for Car,' be true or not, it is 
difficult to say ; but, in any case, the shameful favourite, 
Robert Car, obtained from his master the fine estates 
of which Ralegh was deprived. The ^8000 to be 
given to Lady Ralegh for her interest was never 
entirely paid, but henceforward this, and a nominal 
pension to her of ^^400 irregularly paid, were the 
main sources of income upon which they had to 
depend. Ralegh wrote one of his pleading pathetic 
letters to the miserable creature Car, but of course in 
vain. He tells him that, ' after many great losses and 
many years of sorrow ... it comes to my knowledge 
that yourself have been persuaded to give me and 
myne our last fatall blow, by obtaining from His 
Majesty the inheritance of my children and nephews, 
lost in law for want of wordes. This done, ther 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 291 

remayneth nothinge with me but the bare name of 
life ; despoiled of all else but the grief and sorrow 
thereof. And for yourself, sir, seinge your daye is 
but now in dawne, and myne come to the eveninge, 
your own vertues and the King's grace assuringe you 
of manye good fortunes and much honour, I beseich 
you not to begynne your first buildings upon the 
ruyns of the innocent, and that their greifes and 
sorrows doe not attend your first plantation.' Car got 
the estates, but an evil fate followed them, and they 
changed owners eight times in as many years, until at 
last they fell into the hands of the Digbys, as a 
reward for Sir John Digby's truckling embassy to 
Spain. Neither spoliation -nor imprisonment caused 
Ralegh to fall into obscurity. He was probably never 
more talked about than when he was in the Tower. 
His past magnificence was exaggerated ; his mystic 
labours with alembics and retorts were discussed with 
bated breath ; his distant travels and his Indian 
familiars appealed to a wonder-loving generation, 
and his ' great cordial,' a panacea to cure all ills, was 
eagerly sought for by the highest people in the land.* 
From the first, romantic Anne of Denmark had been 
fascinated by Ralegh's story, and pleaded hard with the 

* No absolutely authentic recipe of the 'great cordial* is known to 
exist. Charles II. 's French physician, Le Febre, by command of the 
King, prepared a quantity of the medicine, and wrote a learned treatise 
on it, which was translated into English by Peter Belon. The awesome 
preparation as given by Le Febre is bad enough without the two extra 
ingredients introduced by the advice of Sir Kenelm Digby, namely, viper 



292 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

King in his favour. In a great sickness — probably 
fever — from which she suffered, the ' great cordial,' it 
is said, saved her life, and thenceforvi^ard she became 
more than ever the prisoner's friend. But she enlisted 
for Ralegh a much more powerful ally than herself, 
and one who for a time seemed to hold out promise 
of renewed fortune and favour to him. The most 
promising heir to the English crown who ever died 
prematurely was probably Henry Prince of Wales. 
Generous, enlightened and broad-minded, the young 
Prince gave hopes that when in the fulness of time he 
should succeed to his unworthy father, a new era of 
dignity and glory should come to England, after its 
partial eclipse under James. His young imagination 
had been captivated by Ralegh's romantic story and 
misfortunes ; and he had carefully examined into the 
details of his trial. He satisfied himself that the 
prisoner was no traitor, and joined his mother in 
constant appeals to the King for Ralegh's pardon and 
release. But James could be as obstinate in some things 
as he was weak in others, and the young Prince indig- 
nantly, and sometimes imprudently, protested to those 
around him against his father's treatment of one of 



flesh, with the heart and liver, and 'mineral unicorn,' consisting, as it 
does, of no less than forty herbs, roots, seeds, etc., macerated in spirits of 
wine and distilled, and then combined with powdered bezoar stones, 
pearls, red coral, deer's horn, ambergris, musk, antimony, various sorts 
of earth, white sugar, and much else. It speaks much for the strength 
of Queen Anne's constitution that this medicament should have 
cured her. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 293 

his greatest subjects. The communication thus set 
on foot between the Prince and the prisoner soon 
established a feeling of close friendship and confidence, 
which must have opened a new vista for Ralegh. 
Already, prisoner though he was, and legally dead, 
he sought to exert his influence on public affairs. 
The Prince was not, like his father, eager for an 
undignified alliance with an impoverished and beaten 
power like Spain. When in 161 1 the proposal was 
made to marry the King's eldest daughter to the 
Protestant Prince Palatine, the Spanish party en- 
deavoured to counteract it by offering a double 
marriage of the Prince and his sister respectively 
with a son and daughter of the Catholic and half 
Spanish Duke of Savoy. The proposal was dis- 
tasteful to the English people and to the Prince 
himself, who consulted Ralegh about it. The 
prisoner wrote for the Prince's guidance two masterly 
State papers setting forth the undesirability of such 
alliances, and advocating the Protestant marriage. 
Once more he pointed out how Spain had been 
beaten into impotence, and how the proposed alliance 
would estrange the Hollanders and the Protestant 
powers. It was a dangerous line to take, for it was 
in opposition to the King's view. Probably Ralegh 
had satisfied himself now that he had nothing to 
hope from James, and must attach himself to the 
heir ; but the vindictive Stuart did not forget it. 
The Prince was delighted with the depth of Ralegh's 



294 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

knowledge, and fascinated by his powerful person- 
ality. He discussed shipbuilding with him, and the 
prisoner wrote, for his information, The Discourse of 
the Invention of ShipSy Observations concerning the 
Royal Navy and Sea Service^ and other treatises of a 
like nature. The generous young Prince, unable to 
obtain his mentor's liberty, prevailed upon the King 
to buy Sherborne back again from Car for ^20,000, 
and grant it to him, Henry, his intention being to 
reconvey it to its former possessor; and after an infinity 
of appeal he also wrung from his father a promise of 
Ralegh's release by the end of 1612. For some 
reason not clearly known, probably jealousy of his 
influence over the Prince, Ralegh fell into renewed 
disgrace with the Council, and Cecil, now Earl of 
Salisbury, gravely rebuked him. He was closely 
confined for three months, and deprived of the 
company of his wife. This was in July 1610, and 
Ralegh, referring to his interview with his old friend 
Cecil, thus speaks of him, October 1610 : 'I would 
have bought his presence at a far dearer rate than these 
sharp words and these three months' close imprison- 
ment, for it is in his Lordship's face and countenance 
that I behold all that remains to me of comfort, and 
all the hope I have.' One year and seven months 
after this was written the second great Cecil died, and 
the blow to Ralegh's hopes was a heavy one. It is 
true that Cecil had been the principal author of his 
ruin, and must have known of his innocence, that 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 295 

he had kept silence when a word would have saved 
his old friend. But still he had not been absolutely 
implacable, and he alone probably held the knowledge 
and power which would have set him free. It may 
well be that if Ralegh had fallen lower he would 
have rescued him at last, but the friendship with 
the Prince raised once more the possibility of Ralegh's 
becoming his rival, and this perhaps caused the re- 
newed severity referred to in the letter just quoted. 
Ralegh had no reason to respect the memory of the 
false friend who had undone him, and he did not do 
so ; but still Cecil's death made his release seem even 
more distant than it was before. A still greater 
loss was to follow six months after Cecil's death. 
Before Prince Henry could convey to Ralegh the 
estates he had obtained from Car, he fell ill of fever. 
All England prayed that the life of the young 
Prince might be spared, and the distressed mother 
sent to the Tower for a supply of the famous cordial 
that had saved her own life. It was a simple and 
natural act for her to do, but the physicians in 
attendance and the Lords of the Council gravely 
discussed whether the remedy, coming from so 
suspicious a source, should be administered. When 
the patient was speechless, and in articulo mortis^ the 
cordial was placed between his lips, and gave him 
strength once more to speak. But it was powerless 
to snatch him from the grave, and the Prince finally 
sank (November 161 2). As usual in such cases at that 



296 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

period there were whispers of poison. It is evident 
now that they were unfounded, but the Queen believed 
implicitly in Ralegh, and Ralegh had unfortunately 
said that his cordial was sovereign against everything 
except poison, and so she thought that her son had 
been sacrificed. There can have been but little love 
between the King and her before, but the black 
suspicion engendered by these doubts must have 
darkened still more the shadow which lay between 
them, for James hardly made a pretence of mourning 
his son. To Ralegh the blow was an irreparable 
one. One of the last interests of the Prince's life 
had been to plan his restoration to liberty and 
fortune, and his death for a time extinguished all 
hope. 

The vast project of the History of the World 
throws into prominence perhaps more than any other 
thing the splendid confidence of Ralegh in his own 
powers. The earlier stages of the great plan were 
discussed with Prince Henry, and the whole work, if 
it had been completed, was to have been dedicated 
to him. But with the death of the young patron 
despondency seized once more upon the author, and 
although the work slowly progressed, it was too 
vast in scope, too ambitious in intention, to be carried 
to the end, now that the Prince had gone. There 
is a very doubtful story told that a i^w days before 
Ralegh's death he sent for Walter Burr, the book- 
seller who had published the first edition in 16 14, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 297 

and talcing his hand asked him how it had sold. 
The man answered, so slowly, that it had undone 
him ; whereupon Ralegh went to his desk, took 
out of it the continuation of the History to his own 
times, and said, with a sigh, ' Ah, friend, has the 
first part undone thee ? The second volume shall 
undo no more ; this ungrateful world is unworthy 
of it,' with which he cast the manuscript into the 
fire. The story is almost certainly untrue, because 
during the time that elapsed between the completion 
of the first part in 161 3 and his release from the 
Tower there was no time for him to have con- 
cluded the work on the same scale upon which it 
had been commenced. There were, however, many 
other treatises known to have been written by him, 
and never printed ; some of the manuscripts of 
which he may well have destroyed as described. 
The History itself, as it exists, is probably the greatest 
work ever produced in captivity, except Don Quixote. 
The learning contained in it is perfectly encyclopedic. 
Ralegh had always been a collector and lover of 
books, and had doubtless laid out the plan of the 
work in his mind even before his fall. He had 
near him in the Tower his learned friend Hariot, 
who was indefatigable in helping his master. Ben 
Jonson boasted that he had contributed to the work, 
and such books or knowledge as could not be obtained 
or consulted by a prisoner were made available by 
scholars like Robert Burhill, by Hughes, Warner 



298 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

or Hariot. Sir John Hoskyns, a great stylist in his 
day, would advise with regard to construction, and 
from many other quarters aid of various sorts was 
obtained. But, withal, the work is purely and 
entirely Ralegh's. No student of his fine, flowing, 
majestic style will admit that any other pen but 
his can have produced it. The vast learning 
employed in it is now, for the most part, obsolete, 
but the human asides, where Ralegh's personality 
reveals itself, the little bits of incidental autobiography, 
the witty, apt illustrations, will prevent the work 
itself from dying. To judge from a remark in the 
preface, the author intended at a later stage to 
concentrate his history mainly into that of his own 
country, and that the portion of the book published 
was to a great extent introductory. Great as were 
his powers and self-confidence, it must have been 
obvious to him that it would have been impossible 
for a man of his age when he began the work 
(59) to complete a history of the whole world on 
the same scale, the first six books published reaching 
from the beginning of the world to the end of the 
second Macedonian war. 

In any case, the book will ever remain a noble 
fragment of a design, which could only have been 
conceived by a master mind. 

h' proof were wanting of how little Ralegh under- 
stood the character of James Stuart, it is furnished by 
the expressions employed in his eloquent preface to 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 299 

his History^ when speaking of the punishment which 
inevitably falls upon unjust rulers. The whole 
of the preface, indeed, is directed to enforcing the 
lesson of the responsibility of rulers, and in combat- 
ing the principle for which James lived and his 
son died. Especially he held up Henry VIL and 
Henry VIII., from whom James derived the crown, 
as monsters of iniquity and cruelty ; and the same 
note is struck all through the History itself where 
the tyranny of kings is described. Wrong and 
injustice to the people may prosper for a season, 
but surely in the end retribution reaches the evildoer, 
whatever his power and exaltation. The introductory 
verses, written by Ben Jonson^ but not acknowledged 
by him at the time, enforce the same lesson. The 
serious study of history is necessary, we are told , 

'. . . . that nor the good 
Might be defiaudcJy nor the great secured ; 
But both might know their ways are understood, 
And the reward and punishment assured.'' 

No wonder the royal pedant looked sourly upon 
the book and said, ' It is too saucy in censuring the 
acts of princes.' Although Ralegh's aim, both in his 
History and in his Prerogative of Parliament^ dedicated 
to the King, was to show that the good of the governed 
must be the supreme end of government, he lost 
no opportunity of making clear that he was a 
strenuous enemy of what we now call democracy. 
His dislike and distrust of the populace were part 



300 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

of his nature, and throughout his life he took no 
pains to hide them. In the preface to the History 
he compares the multitude to barking dogs ' who 
accompany one another in clamour,' and, ' who 
wanting that virtue which we call honesty in all 
men, and that especial gift of God we call charity 
in Christian men, condemn without hearing, wound 
without offence given.' In speaking of the abolition 
of villainage in England, he says, 'Since our slaves 
were made free, which were of great use and service, 
there are grown up a rabble of rogues, cutpurses 
and other like trades, slaves in nature, though not 
in law ; ' and elsewhere, ' There is nothing in any 
state so terrible as a powerful and authorised 
ignorance.' 

Ralegh, indeed, through all his writings, shows 
that his ideal of government was a just and benevolent 
despotism, or oligarchy. He himself was benign 
and equitable to his dependents, so long as they 
were absolutely submissive — like his Indian servants 
by whom he was greatly beloved — but he never 
wavered in his faith that the chosen few had the 
right to govern the many for the happiness and 
well-being of all. 

Notwithstanding the King's strictures, the History 
of the World was a great success, especially amongst 
Puritans and the Protestant party generally. Scholars 
vied with each other in praising its elegance and erudi- 
tion, politicians made it a text-book, and divines a 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 301 

basis for their homilies. Its fame and popularity were 
enhanced rather than dimmished by rumours that 
hidden allusions in it to the King and modern events 
had caused its suppression. Public curiosity was 
aroused and people read the book to solve the sup- 
posed riddles it contained. A second edition was 
issued in 161 7, and for the next hundred years it 
was studied as an English classic. 

Through all Ralegh's misfortunes, as through his 
triumphs, in prison and at liberty, there ran the main 
idea of his life — the Colonial expansion of England, 
It could only be carried into effect by asserting and 
maintaining the superiority of England on the sea. 
He and his had been greatly instrumental in establish- 
ing that superiority, and his constant theme now was 
that the boasted Spanish power was a hollow illusion, 
and Spain herself a negligable quantity, because she 
no longer ruled the sea. 

He had never lost hope or ceased effort in his 
colonial ventures. Kemys had been sent to Guiana 
in 1596, as already related, and had surveyed the 
coast between the Amazon and the Orinoco, the 
main entrance to which latter river he had dis- 
covered. No sooner had Ralegh returned to 
England from Cadiz in the same year than he 
despatched one of his ships, under Leonard Berrie, 
to the Guiana coast, to keep up communication 
with the Indians, who were for ever asking for the 
return of the great white chief, who had promised to 



302 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

defend them against the Spaniards. Again in 1604 
Captain Charles Leigh was sent with 50 men to 
colonise, by the King's authority, some point on 
the Guiana coast ; but the Indians sought to engage 
them in their inter-tribal wars, and it was considered 
prudent to return. They begged, however, that 
missionaries might be sent to teach them to pray. 
A Captain Harcourt, four years later, actually 
planted a colony at Wiapoco under the King's 
license, and he found that the name of Ralegh was 
still a power through all the region. In 161 1 Sir 
Thomas Roe again explored the coast under the 
auspices of Prince Henry and Cecil, to the latter 
of whom he reported that ' the Spaniards were 
proud and insolent, yet needy and weak, that their 
power was only in reputation, and that they treated 
Englishmen worse than Moors.' Harcourt's colonists 
were by this time tired of their experiment, and 
returned with Roe. News came that the Spaniards 
were organising a systematic colonisation of the 
Orinoco, with the intention of building a great city 
on the banks to serve as a base for the conquest of 
the golden Gviiana ; but, said Roe, withal, ' the Spanish 
Government there has more skill in planting and 
selling tobacco, than in planting colonies.' This 
news redoubled Ralegh's efforts to induce his 
country to be beforehand with them. He had 
managed to interest Prince Henry in his project, 
and with ceaseless persistence he endeavoured from 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 303 

his prison to enlist the aid of people in authority 
for that, or for the Virginian plantation. In the 
latter he was successful, and in 1609 a new charter 
was granted to Cecil, Suffolk (Thomas Howard), and 
others, under the name of Treasurer and Company of 
Adventurers and Planters of the Colony of Virginia, 
which, largely by the efforts of Lord Delawarr, ended 
in the establishment of the permanent English colony 
in North America. Ralegh himself was in prison, 
all his former colonists had been murdered, and he 
obtained no benefit under the new charter ; but, 
nevertheless, to him is due the undying glory of 
having made the great northern continent of 
America an English-speaking countiy. With him 
it was no accident. The plan sprang fully formed 
from his great brain. He knew that if the claim 
of England were not enforced, the whole of the 
western world would fall into the nerveless hands 
of Spain, and he was determined this should not be 
if he could help it. He was greedy of gain, but he 
spent his money like water in this great project. He 
knew full well that there was no gold to reward him ; 
that the profit, if any, must be slow, and must accrue 
mainly to the nation, and not to an individual ; and 
yet he laboured on for thirty years in the face of 
defeat, disaster, contumely and disgrace, in full faith 
and confidence that the great continent was ' by 
God's providence reserved for England.' If Ralegh 
had done no more than this he would deserve to be 



304 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

regarded as one of the great benefactors of the human 
race, but this was only one of his multitudinous 
activities. In his advocacy of the Guiana project 
he had to appeal to other motives. Here the hope 
of rapid gain, of abounding gold, vv^as the bait which 
was to induce capitalists to adventure their money. 
He knew that if gold in large quantities was found, 
it would be easy for him to establish the claim he had 
already advanced, that the whole country belonged to 
England, by virtue of the alleged cession made to him 
by the Indians in 1595. Each little expedition that 
was sent came back with fresh stories of golden 
wonders. Of the chiefs who gilded their naked 
bodies with glittering gold dust from head to foot, 
of the fabled city of Manoa, virgin yet, with wealth 
hitherto undreamt of in the world, of mountains of 
gems, of towering gods of gold. Ralegh probably 
believed it all himself, the whole world believed it 
then and for generations after ; and eager as he was 
for empire for his country, he knew fully the power 
of wealth, and he loved power of all things. So gold 
was to be the magnet to draw himself, as well as others, 
to the founding of a great English empire of Guiana. 
The flat plates of soft gold which were brought back 
by each expedition were made the most of, the rich- 
ness of the gold ore smelted and refined over the 
furnace in the Tower garden, was exaggerated as 
the talk of it passed from mouth to mouth in Court 
and city. To any possible patron who would listen. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 305 

Ralegh appealed for help. Cecil had already lost 
much money in the previous expeditions and was 
cool. Prince Henry, on the contrary, as impulsive 
and ambitious for England as Ralegh himself, was 
sympathetic ; but his hands were tied, for his father 
was jealous and resented his activity. Ralegh ap- 
pealed to the Oueen in 161 1 to patronise an ex- 
pedition, and to intercede with the King to liberate 
him for the purpose of commanding it. Cecil was, 
however, not pleased that the prisoner should possess 
so much influence with the heir-apparent, and cast 
doubts upon Ralegh's intentions. It was said that, 
when once he got to sea he might offer his services 
to the King of France or the States.' Ralegh pro- 
tested, and proffered the most extravagant pledges 
for his fidelity ; but for a time without result. Then 
his patron. Prince Henry, died, and gloom once more 
temporarily fell upon him. He was old now, and ail- 
ing. He plaintively said that he knew he would gain 
nothing personally, for he was nearing his end ; but 
for the sake of England he prayed that such a rich 
inheritance might not be cast aside. He was still 
persistent and untiring in his petitions, trying to appeal 
to the weak side of each person he addressed. To 
Cecil he had held out hopes of boundless wealth, to 
Prince Henry, dreams of English empire. He now 
appealed to the Queen's pity, and to the Secretary, 
Sir Ralph Winwood, who was an advocate of the 
French alliance, he promised demonstration of the 

u 



3o6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

worthlessness of Spain as an ally. But sympathetic 
and approving as were the Queen and Win wood, 
they alone were not strong enough to release 
Ralegh, and a more powerful aid had to be enlisted. 
The bars that held him in the Tower, however, 
were weakening of themselves. His venomous foe, 
Northampton (Lord Henry Howard), was dead, the 
false friend, Cecil, was gone, and the disgraceful Car 
was a prisoner for murder, and had been supplanted by 
another favourite, more brilliant still, and, if possible, 
more greedy, who was always anxious to wound the 
Howards. In 1615, accordingly, the influence of 
George Villiers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham, 
was obtained in Ralegh's favour. It was done in 
much the same way that Ralegh's own aid had 
been procured in the days of his prosperity. George 
Villiers's brother, and a kinsman, were paid ^^750 
each, and the favourite soon gained the King's 
ear to the tales of vast wealth to come to both 
of them, if Ralegh were allowed to go and re- 
discover the rich gold mine which Kemys had seen 
in 1595. 

Already, three years before, Ralegh had attempted 
to bargain for his liberty by proposing to send Kemys 
to this mine, with instructions to bring away a few 
boatloads of ore to demonstrate its richness. The 
prisoner was ready then to stake his liberty and 
fortune on Kemys's memory. His plans in the 
meanwhile had developed. He now offered to 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 307 

realise all his property, the portion of the ^^8000 
paid for Sherborne, and a small estate belonging to 
Lady Ralegh at Mitcham, and to induce his friends 
to furnish ^5000 more ; to get together somehow 
on his own credit ^^ 15,000, and take his expedition 
to the mine, coming back loaded with gold, and a 
new empire for the King, without assailing the 
Spaniards, or encroaching upon their territory. 
Bred in the old Elizabethan traditions that success 
excused most things, he doubtless held himself but 
lightly bound by the last condition ; and Sir Ralph 
Winwood and other enemies of the Spanish alliance, 
would also look upon it as only made for the purpose 
of being broken, if necessary.. But Ralegh always 
failed to understand how mean-spirited was the 
man who unworthily sat on the throne of great 
Elizabeth, and he was ready to pledge his life and all 
he possessed to the fulfilment of this or any other 
condition, which should give him the liberty for 
which he had yearned so long. Villiers did what 
for twelve years others had tried to do in vain. 
He aroused James's cupidity, and lulled his fears, 
to the extent of obtaining a warrant, dated 19th 
March 1616, for Ralegh 'to be permitted to go 
abroad to make preparations for his voyage.' The 
Tower gates opened, and one of the greatest prisoners 
they ever confined stepped out at last upon Tower 
Hill a free man, though still with a keeper close by 
his side. He was sadly aged and broken by the 



3o8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

twelve years' cruel and unjust imprisonment to 
which Cecil's jealousy, Howard's hate, and James's 
fears, had condemned him ; but his heart beat high 
with hope that a new era of power for himself and 
his country was opening to him ; for the sufferings 
that had sapped the vigour of his body, had left his 
ambition as fierce as ever, and his vast mental 
energy unimpaired. 



CHAPTER XIV 

diego sarmiento de acuna, count de gondomar 
— James's promise to him, on hand, faith 

AND word political INTRIGUES AT COURT 

THE FRENCH AND SPANISH PARTIES FITTING 

OUT THE GUIANA EXPEDITION SAILING OF 

THE EXPEDITION -LANZAROTE, CANARY AND 

GOMERA GONDOMAR's EFFORTS AGAINST 

RALEGH 

Ralegh's first enjoyment of his new freedom was to 
perambulate London, to note the changes that had 
taken place in the physical aspect of the city during 
his twelve years' incarceration. He must have seen 
much to awaken his admiration and surprise. The 
Strand frontage of his old palace at Durham Place was 
now a stately new building which rivalled the Royal 
Exchange in popularity. Inigo Jones had embellished 
Whitehall with the fine banqueting house which still 
stands, and the city was growing in wealth and extent 
on all sides. But great as may have been the material 
changes which met his eyes, they were trifling in com- 

309 



3IO BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

parison with the entire political revolution which had 
taken place in the respective positions of England 
and Spain towards each other. During the whole 
of Elizabeth's long reign she had proudly refused to 
recognise the pompous claims of superiority put for- 
ward by the Spaniards. She had succeeded to the 
throne when her country was weak and divided — 
when her own position was insecure — but from the 
first moment she scornfully rejected the patronage of 
Spain. As her position was consolidated, seconded by 
Burleigh and her sailors, she played her great game so 
well as to sap and paralyse the power, to which from 
the first she had disdained to bow, and was able to 
treat with hauteur, equal to his own, the King who 
had sought to overwhelm her with his might. By 
the time she died, the power of Spain was merely 
bluster ; and, hector as Philip III. might, he was bound 
to sue for peace because he was impotent for war. This 
was the position when Ralegh had entered the Tower. 
When he came out it was England — or its pusil- 
lanimous prince — that was the suppliant. For want 
of the dignity which Elizabeth rarely lacked, James 
had been driven into the position of taking Spain at its 
own valuation, and himself assumed the inferior posi- 
tion, timorously anxious for an alliance with the 
House of Spain, which received his advances with 
contemptuous coolness. This changed position was 
to a certain extent owing to the character of the 
Ambassador who represented Spain in James's Court. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 311 

Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, afterwards Count de 
Gondomar, was not a haughty Castilian like Feria, 
Mendoza, or Frias, but one of those crafty Gallegos 
whose assumed clownishness of speech and boorishness 
of manner are often made to mask intense earnestness 
of purpose and boldness of action. He could, and did, 
play the buffoon to the King's heart's content, but 
under the clown's motley there was a threatening 
savagery that frightened James, and a pride that 
humiliated him. Gondomar knew exactly how far 
it was safe to go with James at one time. He never 
went beyond it, but at the next interview he started 
where he had left off, and carried his point further. 
James was as cunning and as false a? any man of his 
time, but he was vain of his cunning, and therefore 
easily circumvented. Gondomar never altered in out- 
ward manner from the frank, good fellow, without guile, 
who said sharp, witty things, out of his abounding 
simplicity, and never exaggerated the power of his 
master, because, forsooth, he was too friendly and open 
to invent anything. The result was that the royal 
cunning rogue, who could not hide his cunning for 
vanity, was a simple tool in the hands of the more 
cunning rogue who could, and by the time that 
Ralegh was released Sarmiento had King James in 
the hollow of his hand. 

Every shilling that Ralegh could realise of the 
wrecks of his own or his wife's former fortune was 
called in for employment on the Guiana expedition, 



312 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

On his disastrous return he himself expressed wonder 
at the frenzy that had possessed him thus like a 
desperate gambler, to stake fortune and life on one 
cast. The mine on the Orinoco, it will be remem- 
bered, had been shown years before by an Indian 
chief to Kemys, Ralegh himself never having seen it. 
But he was ready, nevertheless, to risk everything on 
its promise of boundless wealth. His enthusiasm was 
catching, especially by the idle and adventurous, who 
were eager to join him. Most of them, said Ralegh, 
had never seen the seas or wars, and were a very 
dissolute and ungovernable crew, ' whom their friends 
thought it an exceedingly good gain to be discharged 
of at the hazard of some ^40 or ^50 pounds, know- 
ing they could not have lived for a whole year so 
cheap at home.' But money had to be got together 
somehow, for Ralegh could only muster ^^ 10,000 of 
his own, and he was in no position to refuse contribu- 
tions, even if they were hampered with such additions 
as those stated. There was much to be done in the 
first few months of his release, and the talk of the 
preparations soon reached the ears of Sarmiento. On 
the 27th April 1616, one month after Ralegh's 
release, he sounded his first note of alarm to the King 
of Spain. He expresses a wish to go to Spain in 
order to confer with the King personally with regard 
to the English maritime designs, 'especially the 
formation of another company for Guiana and the 
River Orinoco, which is near Trinidad, the prime 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 313 

promotor and originator of which is Sir Walter 
Ralegh, a great seaman, who took many prizes in the 
time of Oueen Elizabeth, and who first colonised 
Virginia. I am informed that he will sail in the 
month of October with six or eight ships of 200 to 
500 tons, some belonging to himself, some to his 
companions, all well provided. He will also take with 
him launches in which to ascend the Orinoco, and he 
is trying to get two ships of very light draught to 
take them as high up the river as possible. He has 
already been in the country, and assures people here 
that he knows of a mine that will swell all England 
with gold.' This was the first news sent of the 
proposed expedition, and with it went, the Ambassa- 
dor's recommendation that a gi^eat increase should be 
made in the strength of the Spanish navy, and that no 
Spanish ship should sail except with a convoy. At 
the same time Gondomar promised to exert his influ- 
ence in London to stop the expedition. He had 
means for doing it which must have been staggering 
indeed to Englishmen who had lived in the time of 
Elizabeth. In his next letter, dated 20th May 1616, 
he relates to his King how he had dealt with the 
Court of Admiralty, of whose proceedings he dis- 
approved. He says that he had complained to the 
King, and things were at once reformed, ' not a single 
pirate daring either openly or secretly to come to 
England.' This is how it was done, according to 
Gondomar : ' As the Judge of the Admiralty did not 



314 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

act properly, the King appointed two adjoints to my 
satisfaction to attend to the affairs of Your Majesty's 
subjects. The Judge refused to allow the adjoints to 
take a seat on the bench, but at my instance the 
King and the Lord Admiral compelled him to do so. 
This has caused great annoyance to those who go to 
Brazil for wood ; but I have prosecuted them crimin- 
ally as disturbers of the peace, and have worried them 
so that I expect I shall upset all their designs.' And 
then Gondomar proceeds to say, 'I am trying to do 
the same with Ralegh, who ... is secretly fitting out 
ships and men for an expedition to Guiana . . . but, 
after all, the sure and necessary thing is for us to 
increase our naval force, as I recommended before.' 

But Gondomar, for his part, did not neglect efforts 
in England to frustrate Ralegh. There was no man in 
England now against whom the Spaniards had a deeper 
grudge ; there was no place where the impotence 
of Spain might be more glaringly demonstrated than 
in South America, and Gondomar left no stone un- 
turned. Sir Ralph Winwood, the Secretary of 
State, was warmly in favour of Ralegh's plans ; for 
anything that would convince the King of the worth- 
lessness of a Spanish alliance was welcome to him ; 
but the King was besotted with Gondomar and the 
Spanish power, Digby and Cottington were humbly 
negotiating in Madrid for the marriage of the Prince 
of Wales with the Infanta, and greedy Buckingham 
was bribed by the Spaniards to his heart's content. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 315 

So Gondomar had no difficulty in learning from 
the King and others the minutest particulars of 
Ralegh's plans, and taking measures to frustrate 
them. There had been some hesitation on the part 
of intended subscribers to the venture, as to the 
security they would have for receiving their shares 
of the profits, inasmuch as Ralegh was unpardoned 
and all his property was attachable by the crown. 
James was therefore moved to give a commission 
under the great seal to Ralegh, dated 26th August 
16 1 6, authorising him to make the voyage ' to places 
in South America, or elsewhere, inhabited by heathen 
and savage people ... to discover some commodities, 
etc., profitable for our subjects, and of which the 
inhabitants make little or no use.' Full power is 
given to Ralegh to punish, reward and command 
his force, and to take such arms as may be necessary 
for defence, and the adventurers are guaranteed that 
the crown will not interfere with their shares of 
the profits ; the King reserving for himself only 
one-fifth of all bullion and precious stones found. 
Before the King could be induced to grant this 
patent, he had insisted upon a detailed statement 
being furnished to him of the exact strength of the 
proposed expedition, its objects and destination. 
This information he promised on the 'word of a 
King' to keep absolutely secret. But it was not 
easy for him to keep a secret from Sarmiento. The 
latter assured James that he had discovered the real 



3i6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

object of Ralegh. The talk of the mine, he said, 
was mere moonshine ; the real intention was to 
prevent the close alliance between England and 
Spain, by attacking and destroying the shipping and 
possessions of the latter, and by arousing mutual 
enmity and distrust. James took fright at this, and 
assured his friend that, if Ralegh dared to attack 
or plunder any subjects of Spain, he would hand 
him over on his return to be hanged in the Plaza 
Mayor of Madrid, and would send every penny of 
plunder with him. Gondomar said this was all very 
well, but it would be too late when the damage 
was done : the force of Ralegh was too great for 
the mere working of a mine in a savage country, 
and, indeed, was meant for making piratical war on 
his master. James swore that it was nothing of the 
sort, and showed Gondomar Ralegh's secret letter, 
setting forth the exact number of ships and men, 
and the precise spot where the mine was situated. 
This was exactly what Gondomar wanted, and in 
August, as fast as a courier could speed, went a 
copy of Ralegh's letter to Madrid. James had 
insisted upon an assurance being obtained from 
Ralegh by Winwood, that he would really only 
go to his proposed gold mine, and would not en- 
croach on the Spanish possessions ; but in the patent 
already quoted, curiously enough, no such condition 
is imposed, except that the recited intention is to 
go to parts inhabited only by heathen people. It is 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 3J7 

not necessary to look very deeply to see here the 
work of Sarmiento's hand, as also in the erasure of 
the usual style of ' trusty and well-beloved ' before 
Ralegh's name. Sarmiento boldly and persistently 
asserted that the whole of the country was Spanish 
territory, which James could hardly allow, as he had 
already given licenses for colonisation there in virtue 
of Ralegh's previous appropriation of it to England. 
But it is clear that the omission of the words 
specially warning Ralegh against encroaching upon 
Spanish territory in South America would have 
hampered Sarmiento afterwards in his claim that it 
was all Spanish territory, and in demanding Ralegh's 
punishment in any case, which was the course he 
intended to pursue from the first. 

It must be confessed that there was a great deal of 
truth in the assertions of Sarmiento with regard to the 
underlying objects of Ralegh's expedition. The main 
article of its leader's political faith was that Spain 
should not be allowed to revive from the crushing 
blows she had already suffered, but should be pursued 
everywhere with relentless animosity, until she was 
past recovery. The idea of a close alliance with her 
was anathema to him, and to most of the statesmen 
who had imbibed the Elizabethan traditions. The 
French party of James's Court was still a consider- 
able one ; Winwood and Edmonds, Secretary and 
Treasurer respectively, were strongly in its favour, and 
all the support which Ralegh received came from the 



3i8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

enemies of the Spanish aUiance. How entirely justi- 
fied Sarmiento's suspicions were in this respect is seen 
by the curious negotiations between Ralegh and the 
Savoyard Ambassador, Scarnafissi, with the knowledge 
of the King and the intervention of Winwood, during 
the period when the expedition was being prepared. 
P'or some years Savoy had been drifting away from 
the Spanish interest, to which for two generations it 
had been a faithful and ill-requited servitor. At one 
time there had been hopes that the Duke of Savoy 
might succeed to the throne of Spain, and at another 
that at least he might marry an Infanta, as his father 
had done. But his Spanish hopes had been frustrated, 
and the diplomacy of Henry IV. had drawn him away 
from his Spanish kinsman by at last ceding to him 
the Marquisate of Saluzzo so long in dispute, whilst 
the Spanish governors in Italy had, with or without 
orders from Madrid, encroached upon his territories, 
led him into a war, and caused him endless trouble. 
A greater danger than ever threatened the little 
potentate now, for the Spanish policy of Marie de 
Medici, the Queen-Mother of France, had drawn the 
two great rivals together ; and this boded but ill to 
their small neighbour. The Huguenots and Con- 
stable Lediguieres were favourable to him, and a pro- 
ject was conceived to form a new combination of the 
Protestant powers, the Huguenots and Savoy, to with- 
stand the threatening combination of France and 
Spain. In furtherance of this idea, Count Scarnafissi 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 319 

was sent to England. He was brought into contact 
with Ralegh, to whom such a combination would be 
sure to appeal, and submitted to James a proposal for 
Ralegh's expedition, reinforced by four of the King's 
ships and others, to change the route as soon as they 
got out to sea, and join a force in the Mediterranean 
under the Duke of Montpensier, for the purpose of 
surprising and capturing Genoa — which was in the 
Spanish interest — for the Duke of Savoy. It was a 
bold project, and Winwood and Ralegh approved of 
it highly. James pretended to do so ; talked of arm- 
ing sixteen ships to join Ralegh's eight, and much 
more to the same effect, but when matters came to 
a point he grew cool, and told Scarnafissi that on no 
account would he allow Ralegh to take command, as 
he was determined that he should go to the Indies. 
The Venetian Ambassador, whose account we are 
following, says that the real reasons why the King 
would not let Ralegh undertake the enterprise were, 
that he did not want to offend the Spaniards, and 
because in case of the attempt succeeding he could 
not trust Ralegh to give him a fair proportion of the 
profits. ' But, I believe,' says the Venetian, ' that as 
soon as he (Ralegh) has his ships out of the river, he will 
rather go to the Mediterranean than the Atlantic ; 
because he has spent 200,000 ducats in fitting out 
eight vessels ; he is deeply in debt, and very few people 
believe that he means to return to England, but will 
take to plundering, perhaps indifferently. He pre- 



320 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

tends to be willing to obey and go to the Indies, 
for if he appeared otherwise he would be ruined, but 
what he will do when he is once out at sea, time 
alone will show.' This was at the end of January 1 6 1 7, 
and the Genoa enterprise was then seen to be hope- 
less, as its success depended upon the prompt utilisation 
of Ralegh's ships. Ralegh's new flagship, the Destiny, 
was launched in the Thames in January, and for a 
time was the talk of London, for it was built on 
his own improved design, and its furnishing was as 
luxurious and splendid as befitted its owner's tastes. 
Amongst other persons who went on board to see it 
was Des Marets, the French Ambassador, to whom 
Ralegh had already been introduced by Winwood. 
Des Marets' first visit was in March, and on that day 
and subsequently he had conferences with Ralegh. 
It was the ill fortune of the latter, apparently, to im- 
press all contemporaries with his insincerity and want 
of principle. He had ventured almost his last penny, 
had staked his reputation, practically his life, in the 
Guiana enterprise, to which he had clung for years 
through all his troubles, and yet there were i&w 
people believed that he honestly intended to carry it 
out. Des Marets thought that he might be going to 
aid the Huguenots, who were in open rebellion against 
the Queen - Mother's Spanish policy, and sought to 
draw him out for the information of Richelieu, whose 
public life as minister had just commenced. 

Thereupon ensued certain negotiations which have 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 321 

never yet been satisfactorily explained. Winwood 
was anxious to combine France with England, and 
to avoid close union with Spain ; and whatever was 
done by Ralegh with the French at this juncture 
must have been known to him, and partly also to 
James, although Ralegh alone had to suffer for it at 
a subsequent stage. Des Marets reported that Ralegh 
had told him that he had a great enterprise in hand, 
'which would bring great honour and profit to the 
sovereign who shall reap the fruit of his labours. 
Seeing himself so badly and tyrannously treated by 
his King, he had resolved, if God sent him good 
fortune, to quit his country, and make to the King 
our master the first offer of that which falls into 
his hands. ... I did my best to confirm him in 
this good intention, and assured him that he could 
not possibly address himself to any quarter where he 
would be received with greater courtesy or friendship. 
I thought best to give him fair words, although, for my 
own part, I do not expect his voyage will result in 
much profit.' It does not appear that this alleged 
strange avowal of Ralegh to the French Ambassador 
produced any further direct negotiations, although, 
as we shall see later, one of the officers of the 
French Embassy was afterwards accused of carrying 
on communications with Ralegh of a questionable 
character. It is certain that before he finally sailed 
Ralegh opened up a correspondence with the 
Admiral of France, Montmorenci, for the purpose 

X 



322 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

of obtaining a patent allowing him to enter any 
French ports with whatever prizes he may have 
captured, and that he made arrangements for a 
number of French ships to join him on the Orinoco. 
When Ralegh returned to England, the King told 
Gondomar that Ralegh asserted that he had taken 
possession of Guiana by virtue of warrants granted 
by Queen Elizabeth and Henry IV. of France. 
It is unlikely that he should have obtained a patent 
from Henry for his first voyage, so that, if the 
King (James) told the truth, Ralegh had probably 
obtained a transfer to him of the patent granted by 
Henry IV. to Henry Maree de Montbariot and 
others, many years before, for the conquest of 
Guiana, or else that he had in some way associated 
with him the holders of the patent, with whom it 
is known that he carried on a correspondence. In 
any case, the best proof that Ralegh never intended 
to offer his services to France to the detriment of 
his own country, is afforded by the fact that he 
actually did return to England, when he must have 
known that his return meant ruin, and perhaps 
death, which he could have avoided by taking 
refuge in a French port. The balance of probability 
seems to be that Ralegh in this expedition was 
used merely as a pawn in the game, respectively 
by the French and Spanish parties in the English 
Court, with the full knowledge of the King, to be 
accepted or repudiated, as circumstances rendered 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 323 

advisable. He was a man whom nobody trusted ; 
and yet, such is the irony of events, that he was 
almost the only man who was perfectly single- 
hearted and sincere in his intentions for the expedi- 
tion. Similar expeditions under Elizabeth were 
often bound by the most stringent conditions from 
offending Spain, and yet it was perfectly understood 
that the conditions might be ignored with safety, 
so long as the nation was relieved of responsibility. 
Ralegh never doubted for a moment that the same 
course would be followed now. He knew — every- 
body knew — that he would probably have to fight 
the Spaniards before he effected a permanent settle- 
ment in Guiana. Gondomar vvas quite right when 
he told the King that so large a force could only 
mean fighting ; and he offered that if Ralegh 
would consent to go unarmed, with two ships only, 
the King of Spain himself would give him an 
escort and protect his working of the mine. It 
suited all English parties that he should go in 
strength, and be exalted or sacrificed, as might be 
convenient, on his return ; and most men of posi- 
tion saw it but himself. He was too deeply absorbed 
in the great dream of his life to see anything but 
the vast golden empire of Guiana beckoning him 
and his to wealth untold, and to undying fame as 
a man who had endowed his country with the 
mighty dominion of El Dorado. By the middle 
of March 16 17, Ralegh's preparations in the 



324 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Thames were complete, and a survey of his ships 
was made by order of the Lord Admiral, of which 
the following is a copy : — 

' The Destiny of London, of the burthen of 440 
tons, whereof Sir Walter Rauleigh goeth generall, 
Walter Rauleigh the younger captaine, Robert 
Barwick master, 200 men, whereof lOO saylers, 20 
watermen, 80 gentlemen, the rest servants and 
labourers, 36 pieces of ordnance. The Starre^ alias 
the Jason of London, of the burthen of 240 tons, 
John Pennington captain, George Clevingham 
master, 80 men, i gentleman and no more, 25 
pieces of ordnance. The Encounter of London, of 
the burthen of 160 tons, Edward Hastings captain, 
Thomas Pye master, 17 pieces of ordnance. The 
yohn and Francis^ alias the Thunder^ of the burthen 
of 150 tons, Sir William St Leger Kt. captaine, 
William Gurden master, 60 souldiers, 10 landsmen, 
6 gentlemen, 20 pieces of ordnance. The Flying 
yoane of London, of the burthen of 120 tons, John 
Chidley captaine, William Thorne master, 25 men, 
14 pieces of ordnance. The Husband^ alias the 
Southampton^ of the burthen of 80 tons, John 
Bayley captaine, Philip Fabian master, 25 mariners, 
2 gentlemen, 6 pieces of ordnance. The pinnace 
Page, James Barker captaine, Stephen Selbye master, 
8 saylers, 3 robinets of brasse. 

'Sum total. 1 21 5 tons. Men 431. Ordnance 121 
pieces. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 325 

'The number of men on the Encounter \% not stated.' 
This report was duly sent to Philip, but one of the 
Spanish spies at Plymouth subsequently reported that 
when the expedition finally sailed it consisted in all 
of 17 ships, 14 of which were armed, carrying a 
force of 2000 men. The real strength, however, 
that sailed from Plymouth was 14 ships in all, with 
about 900 men. Troubles and delays innumerable 
occurred before Ralegh could leave England behind 
him. He put out of the Thames at the end of 
March 161 7, and awaited his stragglers at the Isle 
of Wight. After he reached Plymouth, the 
victuallers refused to supply biscuits for the Jason 
without payment, and Lady Ralegh in London 
was obliged to enter into a bond for the money. 
Then Sir John Feme, the captain of the Flying 
Hart^ could not sail without a fresh supply of 
money, and Ralegh had to borrow £'2.00 from two 
friends. Captain Whitney's ship, too, ran short 
of provisions, and Ralegh's plate was sold to the 
Plymouth silversmiths to pay for them ; and so 
three months wore away in heart-breaking inactivity, 
provisions dwindling, money running short and men 
grumbling. In May the commander issued a general 
order for the government of the fleet, which is curi- 
ously reminiscent of the order issued by Medina 
Sidonia on the sailing of the Armada, and in parts 
is evidently inspired by it. Divine service was to 
be performed every morning and evening on all the 



326 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

ships ; there was to be no swearing, blasphemy or 
gaming on board ; landsmen were to learn the 
names of the ropes, and sailors the use of arms, 
and so on ; but the most important parts for our 
present purpose are the elaborate directions given 
for fighting at sea, and the frequent reference to 
' the enemy ' ; quite in the old Elizabethan vein. 
Considering that England was then ostensibly at 
peace with all Europe, and the expedition was 
supposed to be bound for a country to which no 
nation laid claim but Spain, it is evident that 
Ralegh had not the slightest doubt from the first 
that he would probably have to fight, and that 
the enemy could only be the Spaniards. For James 
or others to plead ignorance of it was sheer hypocrisy ; 
although the King gave ' his hand, word and faith ' 
to Gondomar that if the Spaniards were assailed in 
any way Ralegh should die, and exacted heavy sureties 
from some of his friends in England that he (Ralegh) 
would return and answer for his conduct of the 
expedition. Ralegh sailed from Plymouth on the 
4th July, but off Scilly was caught in a tempest 
which sank Chidley's pinnace, and scattered the 
rest of the fleet. Thereafter for seven weary weeks 
the unfortunate expedition remained wind-bound 
in Cork harbour, and on the 19th August, nearly 
five months after he had left the Thames, Ralegh 
finally spread his sails to a fair north-east wind, and 
started on his fateful voyage. 



ver expedchon j6/'J~ /S 





^K'I•:TCH MAP OK GUIANA, ILLUSTRATIX'G RAI.KGHS TWO VOYAOKS 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 327 

On the 30th, 20 leagues from Cape S* Vincent, the 
expedition fell in with four suspicious French ships, 
loaded with fish and train oil. Ralegh's captains 
wanted to persuade him to capture them as pirates, 
but he told them it was not his right to examine the 
subjects of the French King, and it was legal for them 
to capture Spanish ships south of the Canaries and 
west of the Azores, and : ' I did not suffer my 
company to take from them any pennyworth of their 
goods, greatly to the discontent of my company, who 
cried out that they were men-of-war and thieves, as 
so indeed they were, for I met a Spaniard afterwards 
whom they had robbed.' A pinnace of 7 tons and 
three pipes of oil were bought of them for 61 crowns, 
and they were, after some pfudent detention, sent 
on their way unplundered. On Sunday the 7th 
September the English expedition anchored off 
Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands. The Moorish 
pirates had recently been in the neighbourhood, and 
the people of the island thought that Ralegh's fleet 
might be they, so that when some of the Englishmen 
landed 'to stretch their legs,' the islanders came 
down to the beach fully armed, but carrying a flag 
of truce. When they found that they had to deal 
with Englishmen, they requested that two ofiicers, 
armed only with rapiers, might be sent to confer with 
the Governor. Ralegh, and an officer named Brad- 
shaw, advanced into a plain for the purpose, and the 
leader was appealed to by the Governor as to what he 



328 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

wanted in so poor and barren a place, peopled mainly 
by Moriscos. He told him that he had no desire to 
injure any of the King of Spain's dominions, having 
received from his King express orders to the contrary. 
All he wanted was to be allowed to purchase at a fair 
price such fresh provisions as the place afforded. The 
Governor promised him facility for this. As agreed, 
a list of the stores he required was sent on shore, but 
Ralegh waited in vain for the provisions to be sent, 
the Governor in the meanwhile forwarding to him 
fresh promises of immediate supplies. Ralegh says that 
he never believed him, for he knew he was carrying 
his goods up to the mountains in the interior, and the 
English captains were all for attacking the town, but, 
says Ralegh, ' I knew it would offend His Majesty, 
and the poor English merchant whose goods were in 
their hands would have been ruined.' After waiting 
for some days, Ralegh sent word to the Governor, that 
if it were not that he did not wish to'offend the King 
of England he would pull him and his Moriscos out 
of the town by the ears. It is not surprising that in 
response to this the Governor said he knew they were 
the same Turks that had been plundering their neigh- 
bours, and he would consequently stand on his guard 
against them. Even if they were English, he said, he 
should be hanged if he helped them, and they should 
have nothing except by force. Ralegh, before he 
sailed away, sent a curt answer to this, saying that he 
took note of the King of Spain's disposition, notwith- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 3^9 

standing the peace with England. The next day the 
expedition reached Grand Canary, and Ralegh sent a 
copy of his correspondence with the Governor of 
Lanzarote to the Governor-in-Chief, and landed a few 
of his men to obtain fresh water. Whilst this was 
proceeding some of the country people attacked the 
English sentries, and in the ensuing skirmish three 
of the islanders were killed ; ' which,' says Sir Walter, 
' made up for two of his own men ' who were killed 
in a brawl at Lanzarote. 

As we have seen, the long delay in the sailing of 
the expedition had given ample time for the Spaniards 
to make preparations to frustrate the aims in view. 
Several agents of Gondomar had shipped with Ralegh, 
in order to report anything which, by any possibility, 
might furnish a pretext for demanding of James the 
fulfilment of his promise, on 'hand, word and faith,' 
to surrender Ralegh if any ofFence were offered to 
Spain, and this landing on the Canaries to water was 
thought to be enough. Captain i Bailey, with the 
Husband^ deserted, and flew to England with the 
news. He at once sent his statement to Bucking- 
ham, as agreed upon, by whom it was handed to the 
King, and from him to Fenton for inquiry and report. 
In the meanwhile Gondomar was fully informed of 
what had passed, and sent the following letter to the 
King of Spain (22nd Oct.). As the particulars in it 
have not hitherto been published, I have thought well 
to transcribe it nearly at length. ' I informed Your 



330 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Majesty on the 3rd August that Walter Ralegh had 
arrived in Ireland short of stores, and that an English 
baron there had provided him with 100 oxen, etc. 
He sailed on the 19th August, having added to his 
fleet there some little craft of 20 or 30 tons each. He 
is said to have in all 13 or 14 sail, and 900 or 1000 
men, soldiers and sailors. I now learn that letters 
have been received here from some of the men who 
went with him, and particularly from the chief gunner 
of his flagship, written from the Canary Islands, where 
they say he had tried to get some water and stores. 
I expect he will do more injury than that there if he 
can. No doubt news of his actions will arrive in 
Spain more speedily and frequently than here, and as 
all possible efforts have been made here, without avail, 
to prevent his voyage, whatever measures Your Majesty 
may adopt to punish him will be fully justified, and 
many honourable Englishmen will be very glad of it. 
Amongst these is Sir John Digby,* for he protested 
here frequently and vigorously against the evils which 
would arise to England if Walter Ralegh were allowed 
to go on this voyage. I have also asked the folks here 
what right they have to complain of pirates, since they 
let this man sail, who has no other intention than to 
be a pirate. If he has stolen so much as a cow at 

* Sir John Digby, Ralegh's successor in the possession of the 
Sherborne estate, was sent as English convoy to Madrid to treat of 
the marriage of Prince Charles and the Infanta. He, Cottington, and 
Lord Roos •were ceaselessly urged by Philip and Lerma to write to 
James I., pressing for the condign punishment of Ralegh. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 331 

Canary, it would be well for the Governor to seize 
the goods of the first English ship which goes there, 
in order to fully satisfy the owners. It would be a 
great shame if he did not do so, and tell the captain, if 
he complains, that he had better come and recover 
the damage from Ralegh's sureties, as it is easier for 
an Englishman to make a claim in London than a 
Canarian. 

' Since writing the above I have received the paper I 
enclose. It is from a person very zealous in Your 
Majesty's interests, and I also send the paper from 
Sir Thomas Lake, who came personally to express to 
me the great sorrow of the King and all good people 
at what Ralegh has done. The King promises that he 
will do whatever we like to remedy and redress it. 
Although I judge Lake to be a very honest man, and 
sincere in what he says, I look upon it as absurd to 
expect that a fitting redress will be afforded here for 
so atrocious a wickedness as this, as I clearly foresaw 
and foretold what would happen in ample time to 
prevent it, and urgently pressed the King and Council 
frequently to do so, and also Secretary Winwood, who 
really was Ralegh's supporter. One day, when the 
King wanted to persuade me of the perfect security 
Ralegh was leaving that he would do no harm, I 
said I would call him to witness that if Ralegh sailed 
I knew that he would proceed in such a manner as 
would force Your Majesty's officers to embargo the 
persons and property of Englishmen in your dominions. 



332 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

He replied that it would be very just to do so if 
Ralegh did anything wrong, but that I should see 
that he (the King) would not deceive himself to the 
extent of imperilling the persons and property of his 
subjects, or permit Ralegh to go, unless he left security. 

Captain Bailey, who has returned from Ralegh, 
declares that the latter approached Canary, and the 
Governor sent to say that Your Majesty was at peace 
with the King of England, and if he required pro- 
visions, he could have them and welcome. Seeing 
that the people there were prepared for him, he went 
to another island of which the captain is not quite 
sure of the name, but believes it to be Lanzarote, 
where he landed 600 men with the intention of 
fortifying himself, and awaiting the Indian flotilla. 
The captain says that he had sailed with him, under 
the belief that his intention was to discover unknown 
countries, but when he saw his evil objects he returned 
hither to the Isle of Wight, where he now is, and has 
sent this news. Ralegh's friends are greatly perturbed, 
and are trying to find excuses for him. Amongst 
other absurdities they are saying that he bore a 
commission from the King of France to make war 
on Your Majesty at sea.' 

Gondomar's urgent advice to Philip then follows. 
Let the authorities at Seville — as if of their own 
motion — draw up a statement that an English fleet 
bearing the King's commission has raided the Canaries, 
and that, pending Your Majesty's orders, they have 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 333 

embargoed all English property there (/.^., at Seville). 
This, he says, will soon bring James to his knees, but 
he will be very insolent if it be not done. ' Pr^y/ be 
says to Philip, ' send the fleet to punish this pirate.' 
It will be easy, as his force is small. Every man 
caught should at once be killed, except Ralegh and 
the officers, who should be brought to Seville, and 
executed in the Plaza the next day. It is the only 
way to treat such pirates and disturbers, and it is a 
necessary step for the preservation of the peace with 
England^ France and Holland. Gondomar also relates 
that the Earl of Southampton had received a letter 
from Ralegh from Canary, saying that he had decided 
that the best thing to do would be to await there the 
arrival of the silver fleet, and "that 'he, some French 
ships having joined him, is now so strong, that none 
of the Spanish ships will escape him. ' I am certain,' 
says Gondomar, ' that no redress is to be expected 
from here ; because those who might redress the evil 
would, in my opinion, rather see the millions of the 
silver fleet in Ralegh's hands than in those of Your 
Majesty. I have constantly urged upon Your Majesty 
the course I think you should take. Ralegh sailed 
with the King's commission to command the expedi- 
tion, in spite of all my remonstrances and protests, 
and those of his better councillors, and after he had 
often given me his word that Ralegh should leave 
such security as would prevent him from injuring any 
of Your Majesty's subjects. He sent to tell me this a 



334 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

hundred times by several councillors and by Sir John 
Digby. The King should now be made to feel the 
responsibility. It is certain that the King does not 
wish for war.' 

I have reproduced this letter at length, because 
it proves beyond doubt that the intention of the 
Spaniards from the first was to sacrifice Ralegh, 
and that the moment the King was weak and 
foolish enough to pledge himself to Gondomar that 
if the least injury was done to Spanish subjects he 
should be sacrificed, Ralegh was doomed. Be it 
remembered that when the above letter was written, 
no attack whatever had really been made upon 
Spanish interests, and the Bailey's assertions were 
absolutely untrue. The letter written by Sir 
Thomas Lake to Gondomar, enclosed to the King 
of Spain, in Spanish, contains the following expres- 
sions, which display even more luridly the miserable 
weakness of James, considering that when they were 
written there was nothing against Ralegh but the 
utterly false and unsupported suppositions of Captain 
Bailey. 'I return you the letter you did me the 
honour of writing to me, and I am glad to be able 
to transmit to you the account of the matter I have 
just received in a letter from Viscount Fenton, re- 
specting Ralegh's business, and his action in Canary. 
He tells me that His Majesty is very disposed and 
determined against Ralegh, and will join the King 
of Spain in ruining him, but he wishes this resolu- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 335 

tion to be kept secret for some little while, in order 
that, in the interim, he may keep an eye on the 
disposition of some of the people here. If Your 
Excellency is willing, I will call and see you to- 
morrow. 2ist October. — Thomas Lake.' 

The evidence which was enough to make James 
willing to ' ruin ' his most distinguished subject 
seemed to the English Ambassador, Cottington, in 
Madrid to need further proofs, and every unbiased 
person will now come to the same conclusion. The 
probability seems to be, that James was eager to 
seize upon the first pretext to sell Ralegh to the 
Spaniards, in order to curry favour with them. 

Captain Bailey and his crew were brought to 
London, and examined by the King himself, who 
told Gondomar 'that the statements of one half of 
them were opposed by those of the other half; 
some saying that Ralegh had done nothing wrong, 
whilst others asserted that he was a great pirate, 
confirming Captain Bailey's own statement. He 
(the King) told me he wished we had some trust- 
worthy news from Spain, because he was anxious 
to proclaim Ralegh at once as a traitor, and pro- 
ceed against his sureties, and against all those who 
took part in the voyage. He said that during this 
week he would make some demonstration, which 
would please me, and would bridle and alarm his 
subjects ; and that Sir John Digby was the person 
who had spoken most worthily to him on the matter. 



336 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

When he was opposing Ralegh's being allowed to 
sail, he had told him (the King) that if the voyage 
were not prevented great evils would ensue, and all 
the world would throw the blame upon the King 
(James). He (Digby) said, if the King wished to 
break with Your Majesty, he would undertake to 
find a pretext of a more honourable description than 
this. The King said that he saw now that Digby 
had told him the truth, and he would at once adopt 
such measures of redress as Your Majesty wished and 
would convey to him through me.' 

These letters, which have never hitherto been 
published, prove to demonstration James' complaisant 
baseness in the matter ; and that Ralegh was a 
doomed man, even if the subsequent events on the 
Orinoco had never happened. But as month suc- 
ceeded month, whilst no fresh news came of Ralegh's 
misdeeds, and the slow administration in Spain took 
no open measures of retaliation,' Ralegh's friends 
plucked up spirits. They pointed out if Bailey's 
statements or suppositions had been true the results 
would have been seen before, and resentment would 
have been shown in Madrid. In the absence of 
Gondomar, Father Fuentes writes from London 
(2nd February 1618), that the King would be very 
glad now of an opportunity of punishing those who 
promoted Ralegh's voyage, and the writer recom- 
mends that Digby in Madrid be requested to urge 
the making of some great demonstration in Eng- 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 337 

land. * Digby,' he says, ' would be more delighted 
than anyone ; but as no representations are made 
in Madrid, Ralegh's friends are saying that noth- 
ing wrong has been done, and that Bailey is a 
liar.' 

On the 4th September Ralegh arrived at Gomera, 
one of the smaller Canary Islands. His men were 
falling sick with overcrowding, heat, and bad water ; 
and a fresh supply of the latter was of vital necessity. 
There was only one small landing-place, which a 
handful of men could defend against a host, and a few 
shots were fired against the English from the roeks 
above it. Twenty demi-culverin balls were sent 
through the houses of the town by the English, just 
to show that the expedition was well armed, and then 
Ralegh sent a peaceful message to the Governor, 
saying he only wanted water, and would do no harm 
unless attacked. The Governor had been advised that 
they were Moorish pirates, and hesitated ; but some 
Canarians, whom Ralegh had taken on the coast of 
Africa, were sent to reassure him, and an agreement 
was made for a few of the Englishmen to land and 
obtain a supply of water. Only six men went ashore, 
but ten of Ralegh's vessels were put broadside on the 
town, which, he said, he would knock to bits if 
treachery were practised on his men. He had nothing 
to fear, however. The Governor's wife was half an 
Englishwoman — her mother was a Stafford — to whom 
Ralegh sent six fine handkerchiefs, and six pairs of 

Y 



338 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

gloves, welcome, doubtless, in that remote place. But 
not more welcome than were her gracious kindly 
words and presents in return. It was almost the only 
pleasant occurrence in this disastrous voyage, this 
friendly interchange of courtesies at Gomera. 'She 
sent,' says Ralegh, ' four very great loaves of sugar, a 
basket of lemons, which I much desired to comfort 
and refresh our many sick men, a basket of oranges, a 
basket of most delicate grapes, another of pome- 
granates and figs, which trifles were better welcome 
to me than looo crowns would have been.' In reply 
he sent the Countess ' 2 ounces of ambergris, an 
ounce of delicate extract of amber, a great glass of 
rose water in high estimation here, a very excellent 
picture of Mary Magdalen, and a cutwork rufF.' It 
would perhaps be indiscreet to ask where Puritan Sir 
Walter had obtained the picture of the Magdalen ; 
but whatever he may have plundered elsewhere, all 
things at Gomera were sacred, and he threatened his 
men with instant death if so much as a pennyworth 
were taken without due payment. Before he sailed 
he received plenty more of refreshing fruit, a basket of 
fine white manchet (bread), and two dozen fat hens, 
with a full supply of good water. ' And we departed 
without any offence given or received to the value of 
a farthing, whereof the Count sent his friar aboard my 
ship, with a letter to Don Diego de Sarmiento, 
Ambassador in England, witnessing how nobly we had 
behaved ourselves, and how justly we had dealt with 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 339 

the inhabitants of the island,' The good Governor 
little knew that Don Diego and James Stuart between 
them had already agreed to ' ruin ' the greatest 
Englishman afloat for daring to sail the seas at all, 
whether his conduct was good or ill. Releasing the 
small Spanish prizes he had detained, and recompensing 
the masters, he departed from Gomera on the 2ist 
September, with mutual expressions of kindliness and 
goodwill. Head winds and tempests kept him buffet- 
ing about in the Atlantic for six weeks, in danger 
from shipwreck again and again, with pestilence 
raging on his fleet, until it seemed as if ill-fortune 
had marked out Ralegh as its own. On his flagship, 
the Destiny^ he had threescore men sick' at the same 
time, and no less than forty-two died on the terrible 
passage. Water fell short, the heat was stifling, and 
when the head winds fell, a dead calm held them 
motionless on seas like burnished copper ; and then a 
mysterious darkness overwhelmed them so that for 
two whole days they had to steer by candlelight. At 
length, on the 31st October, the leader was aroused 
from his sweltering couch by a sudden hurricane, and 
rushing on deck, he too caught a chill, and was soon 
down with a raging fever. Overwrought with anxiety 
and fatigue, he was like to die for many weary days, 
sustained only, as he says, by the grateful fruit which 
the Countess of Gomera had sent him ; and when at 
last, on the nth November, the welcome cry of 
'land' was heard, weak and helpless as a child he 



340 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

could only gaze sadly from his pallet upon the first 
promontory of the great empire with which it 
was the dream of his life to endow the English 
crown. 



CHAPTER XV 

RALEGH IN GUIANA — THE RIVER EXPEDITION — 

ATTACK ON SAN THOME DEATH OF YOUNG 

WALTER RALEGH — FAILURE AND RETURN OF 

THE RIVER EXPEDITION GONDOMAR CLAIMS THE 

FULFILMENT OF THE KINg's PROMISE HIS CON- 
VERSATIONS WITH JAMES 

The point first sighted was Cape 'Wiapoco — now 
Cape Orange — east of the mouth of the Cayenne. 
Ralegh's name was well known there amongst the 
Indians, one of the chiefs in the neighbourhood, 
Leonard, having lived in England with him. Har- 
court's company of Englishmen a few years before 
had been succoured and aided by the Indians there, 
in the belief that they were Ralegh's men. Leonard, 
however, was up the country when the expedition 
arrived, and Ralegh decided not to seek him, but to 
enter the mouth of the Cayenne, where there lived 
another chief called Harry, who had passed two years 
in the Tower with the leader. Cassava bread, luscious 
pines and fresh meat, came in plenty from the devoted 
Indians. Ralegh was carried ashore, 'out of the 

341 



342 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

unsavoury ship, pestered with many sick men, which, 
being unable to move, poisoned us with a most filthy 
stench,' and here, sitting under the shade of a tent, he 
gradually began to gather strength. His men were 
landed and refreshed, his boats cleaned, and for a time 
affairs looked prosperous. One of his captains, Alley, 
was troubled with vertigo, and it was decided to send 
him home with dispatches, giving the good news that 
the Guiana coast had been reached at last. Ralegh 
wrote by him to his wife (14th Nov.). 'Sweetheart, 
— I can yet write unto you, but with a weak hand, 
for I have suflered the most violent calenture for 
fifteen days that ever man did, and lived : but God 
that gave me strong heart in all my adversities hath 
also now strengthened it in the hell fire of heat. We 
have had two most grievous sicknesses in our ship, of 
which fourtie-two have died, and there are yet many 
sick ; but having recovered the land of Guiana this 
1 2th November, I hope we shall recover them. We 
are yet 200 men, and the rest of our fleet are reason- 
ably strong — strong enough I hope to perform what 
we have undertaken, if the diligent care at London to 
make our strength known to the Spanish King by his 
Ambassador have not taught the Spaniards to fortifie 
all the entraunces against us. Howsoever, we must 
make the adventure, and if we perish, it shall be no 
honour for England, nor gain for His Majestie, to 
loose, among many other, one hundred as valiant 
gentlemen as England hath in it. . . . To tell you 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 343 

that I might be here King of the Indians were a 
vanitie ; but my name hath still lived among them. 
Here they feed me with fresh meat, and all that the 
country yields ; all offer to obey me.' 

Alley arrived at Portsmouth in March, and the 
Spanish Ambassador was promptly ready with his 
version of the news to send to Madrid. The ex- 
pedition, he said, was in dire straits, in a port where 
the current was so strong that it would be difficult 
for the ships to get out. Provisions were running 
short, and — which was true — the mortality had been 
terrible. * Most of the men on board are desperate, 
and some of them gave letters for their friends in 
England to the captain who has come hither. But 
Ralegh took the letters, and, -amongst others com- 
plaining of his proceedings, he opened one from a 
gentleman, saying in what misery they were, and 
that if things did not improve they had resolved to 
throw Ralegh overboard and return to England. 
Ralegh attempted to arrest this gentleman, and 
showed him his letter ; but the rest of them would 
not allow it. All those who have come hither agree 
that nothing but entire failure can be expected from 
Ralegh's voyage, and they think that those who 
remain with him will either be lost, or, if they are 
able to get out, will turn pirates. I think this is the 
most likely.' 

After three weeks stay at Cayenne, and great 
danger in crossing the bar, Ralegh's ship and the 



344 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

"Jason sailed higher up the coast to the Triangle 
Isles — or Health Isles, as they are now called. But 
the rest of his fleet lagged behind on various 
pretexts. Indeed, though Ralegh himself does not 
say so, it is plain that most of his men were 
already sulky and discontented. At the Isles of 
Health, the expedition up the Orinoco was organised. 
The chief had again fallen sick, and could not per- 
sonally take command ; the officers, moreover, were 
unwilling to leave the body of the expedition on the 
coast at the mercy of the Spaniards, unless Ralegh him- 
self remained in charge. Sir Warham S* Leger, the 
second military officer, was also down with fever, 
and the 400 soldiers, with the river force, were placed 
under the command of Sir Walter's nephew, George 
Ralegh, with Captains Parker, North, young Walter 
Ralegh, Thornehurst, Hall and Chudles under him. 
Captain Kemys, the only man who had seen the 
mine, having command of the landing in the river. 
The Encounter^ the Confidence^ the Supply and two 
small craft were directed to take these men to the 
mouth of the Orinoco, calling at the Rivers Surinam 
and Essiquibo for refreshment on the way, Ralegh 
and the rest of the fleet directing their course to 
Trinidad to await the return of the party. 

They parted company on the loth December, the in- 
structions to the river expedition being that, if possible, 
they were to reach the mine without coming into con- 
flict with the Spaniards. The soldiers were to encamp 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 345 

* between the Spanish town and the mine if there be 
any town. So that being secured, you may make trial 
what depth and breadth the mine holds, and whether 
or no it answers your hopes. If you find it royal, 
and the Spaniards make war upon you, you, George 
Ralegh, are to repel them, if it be in your power, 
and to drive them as far as you can.' 

When James Stuart found it necessary afterwards 
to make some apology to his indignant people for 
having sacrificed Ralegh to please the Spaniards, he 
— or rather, Bacon for him — asserted, untruly, that 
orders were given beforehand to the exploring party 
to capture the Spanish town before going to the 
mine, but all testimony contradicts this ; besides 
which, Ralegh did not know where the town was. 

The main fleet, with Ralegh on board, sighted 
Barima Point, at the mouth of the Orinoco, on 
the 15th December, and finally came to anchor 
in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad, on the last day 
of the year 161 7. On the 19th January an attempt 
was made to trade with the Spaniards at Port of 
Spain, but a volley of musketry, and other volleys 
of stones and oaths from shore, bade the English 
keep at a distance. The river expedition had 
taken stores for a month, and when the month of 
January had passed without news of it, Ralegh 
began to grow anxious. He had moved up to the 
north point of Trinidad to await the return of 
his absent men — for on this occasion the exploration 



346 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

party had entered by the main mouth of the river 
discovered by Kemys, and not by the Manamo, by 
which Ralegh had groped his way in 1595 — 
and continued to send scouting parties along the 
coast to the east to pick up news. At last, from 
unwilling Indians, vague rumours came that the 
English had captured a Spanish town in the Orinoco 
and had slain the officers, the rest of the Spaniards 
having fled to the woods, two of the English captains 
also, having fallen. Armed parties were despatched 
by Ralegh daily to gather news, and gradually, 
piece by piece, Ralegh, in dire anxiety, began to 
realise that some great calamity had fallen upon him. 

In the meanwhile we will follow, for a time, the 
fortunes of the river expedition, as told by some of 
the men who took part in it. Let Captain Parker 
tell his story first to his old comrade Captain Alley. 

* Your departure from us was fortunate for you, as 
you thereby avoided miseries and crosses unutterable. 
We left Cayenne for the Orinoco in company with 
the ships of Captains Whitney and Wollaston, a 
flyboat and a caravel ; the flagship, vice flagship and 
the other larger vessels directing their course for 
Trinidad to await our return. We were a month 
ascending the Orinoco, and at length landed a league 
from San Thome. At one o'clock in the morning 
we delivered our assault, and lost Captain Rauley 
and Captain Cosmore, although Captain Rauley was 
killed by his own carelessness and indiscreet rashness, as 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 347 

you will be told, for I wish to give you an account of 
the order that was observed by us. Captain Cosmore 
led the forlorn hope with 50 men, I followed with the 
first companies of musketeers, and Rauley came after 
me with the pikemen. As soon as Rauley learned 
that we had delivered the assault, he indiscreetly 
abandoned his post and command, and came to us, 
where, unfortunately, he was welcomed with a bullet 
which left him no time to beg our Almighty Father 
for mercy for the sinful life he had led. We at 
once took possession of the town, with only a loss 
of two of our men, one of whom was Master 
Harrington, a kinsman of the Countess of Bedford. 
The Spaniards were not strong, and being suspicious 
of our force, fled, abandoning their ' Governor, who 
is called Don Diego Palomeque de Acuiia, with 
Captain Santo and Captain Abisueto. When we 
had the town in our hands. Captain Kemys took 
several gentlemen with him to find the mine, and 
in this way passed carelessly from one place to another 
for about twenty days, always holding out hopes to 
us that he would find it. But at last we discovered 
that it was all nothing but lies and deceit, and that 
he was a mere Machiavel who told the truth to no 
one ; and especially was he hateful and detestable 
to himself, for with the most roguish cruelty he 
sought to take his own life and succeeded in killing 
himself. But now he can do no more wickedness, 
I will not dwell further upon this man, odious and 



348 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

detestable to God and the world. I will, however, 
inform you, as well as I can, what those of us who 
remain may expect. We have already split into several 
parties. Captains Whitney and Wollaston agree 
together to sail in company on the seas, to waylay 
homeward-bound merchant ships ; the flagship, vice 
flagship and Sir John Feme, are going to Newfound- 
land to lay in fresh provisions, and thence to the 
western isles also to watch for homeward-bound 
ships. As for myself, with God's help, I also mean 
to make some voyage that will either give me profit 
or a grave in the sea. Pray, therefore, tell my friends 
this. I expect by the end of August that we shall 
have finished our intentions. As I am in port, I 
cannot write more, and I only pray to God that you 
may live prosperously. 22d March.'* 

This not particularly chivalrous epistle is some- 
what in conflict with Ralegh's own accounts, which 
always represent the Spaniards as the first aggres- 
sors. When Kemys had ascended the Orinoco 
previously (in 1596) he had found the Spanish 
settlement San Thome, as already described, some- 
what below the mouth of the Caroni, the mine 
itself being a considerable distance below that 
point, near Mount Aio. Ralegh had heard from the 

* There is copy of Parker's letter in the Harl MSS. xxxix., folio 342, 
of which the wording varies somewhat from the above, although the 
sense is of course the same. This is owing to the fact that the above 
version is a retranslation into English of the Spanish copy sent to 
Philip III. by Gondomar. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 349 

Indians at Cayenne, if not before, that the settlement 
had been moved, but appears to have had no exact know- 
ledge of the position of the nevv^ tow^n. His instruc- 
tions to Kemys before the departure of the expedition 
make this clear, as he tells him to land his men and 
encamp them between the town and the mine, if there 
be any town near. ' If you shall find any great number 
of soldiers . . . and that the passages are already forced, 
so as without manifest peril of my son, yourself, and 
the other captains, you cannot pass towards the mine, 
then be well advised how yovi land, for I know (a few 
gentlemen excepted) what a scum of men you have, 
and I would not for all the world receive a blow from 
the Spaniard to the dishonour of our natipn.' 

Ralegh's own accounts in his Apology^ and in his 
letters to Winwood and his wife, explain the matter in 
a different light. By them it would appear that the 
Indians opposite the Isle of Tortola sent word to 
the Spaniards of the coming of the expedition; and 
that as they approached the new settlement, which 
was on the site now called Guayana Vieja, slightly 
below the site of the mine, the Spaniards shot at the 
boats, ' both with their ordnance and muskets, where- 
upon the companies were forced to charge them, and 
soon beat them out of the town. In the assault 
whereof, my son (having more desire of honour than 
of safety) was slayne, with whom to say the truth all 
respect of the world hath taken an end in me.' 

Ralegh, in the bitterness of his heart, writing this to 



350 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Winwood (who was dead when the letter arrived), 
complains that the King valued him so little as to 
allow full particulars and charts of his projected 
voyage to be sent to Spain by Gondomar, and gives 
particulars of the orders sent from Madrid to America 
for the attack and defeat of the expedition. * Lastly,' 
he says, ' to make an apology for not working the 
mine, although I know not (His Majesty excepted) 
whom I am to satisfie so much as myself, having loste 
my Sonne and my estate in the enterprise, yet it is 
true that the Spaniards tooke more care to defend the 
passages leading unto it than they did their towne. . . . 
But it is true that when Kemys found the rivers low 
and that he could not approach the banks near the 
mine by a mile, and when he found a descent, a volley 
of muskets came from the woods upon the boat, and 
slew two of the rowers, hurt six others, and shot a 
valiant gentleman Captain Thornix in the head. He 
(to wit, Kemys) followed his ownr~advice that it was 
in vaine to discover the mine (for he gave me this for 
excuse at his returne that the companies of English in 
their towne of San Thome were hardly able to defend 
it against the dayly and nightly alarmes and assaults 
of the Spaniards, that the passage to the mine was of 
thick and unpassable woods, that being discovered 
they had no men to worke it) did not discover it at 
all. For it is true that the Spaniards having two gold 
mines near the towne, left them for want of negroes 
to work them. . . . Whatsoever that braggadochio the 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 351 

Spanish Ambassador may say I shall prove it . . . and 
I shall make it appear to any prince or state that 
will undertake it, how easily those mines and five 
or six more may be possessed, most of them in 
places which have never yet been attempted by any 
enemy, nor any passage to them ever discovered by 
English, Dutch or French.' 

The news which reached the leader, at first by 
Indian rumour, and on the 14th February by letters, 
must have seemed to him worse than death itself. 
The officers wrote that, after receiving the fire from 
the new town of San Thome as they passed up the 
river, they had landed their men on New Year's day, 
1 61 8, a league above the settlement; a;id according 
to Ralegh himself (although contradicted by the 
Spaniards and inferentially by Captain Parker), an 
ambuscade was led against them at nine o'clock in 
the evening by a Captain Geronimo de Grados. The 
English rank and file were worthless, and were thrown 
into confusion, but were eventually rallied, and were 
led against the town. An untrustworthy story was 
afterwards told by Ralegh's enemies that young Walter 
cried out as he advanced, ' Come on, my hearts ; 
here is the mine we must expect. They that look 
for other mines are fools.' It is, however, an insult 
to our intelligence to try to persuade us that Ralegh 
staked his life and fortune, only to take a poor, half- 
savage town of 130 palm-leaf huts. 

In the attack the Governor Palomeque de Acuiia 



352 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

was killed (he is usually called a kinsman of Gondomar 
by Ralegh's historians, but I can find no evidence 
that he was so, except his name), and with him fell 
three or four other Spanish captains. Young Walter 
died, it is said, crying out to his comrades, ' Go on ! 
Lord have mercy upon me, and prosper your enter- 
prise.' When the town had fallen, the Spaniards 
retreated to an island near, from whence they kept 
up a desultory attack upon the English. Kemys's 
attempts to find the mine were resisted by them step 
by step, and once he fell into an ambuscade and lost 
nine of his men. Lurking in the fastnesses of the 
woods and creeks with which they were familiar, the 
Spaniards picked off the Englishmen at their leisure, 
until 250 of the latter had fallen. The spirits of 
the men flagged, and disaffection crept through the 
dwindling ranks of the expedition. Curses and lower- 
ing looks followed the unfortunate Kemys in his futile 
attempts to reach the mine. George Ralegh, hoping 
against hope, held out as long as he could, and himself 
explored the near reaches of the river, constantly 
harassed by the desultory fire of the Spaniards. But a 
time came at length when it was evident that a further 
stay would mean extermination piecemeal, for the 
Indians told them of Spanish reinforcements coming 
up the river, and there was nothing for it but to 
re-embark the little force, and on the swift current 
of the great river sweep down towards the sea, bearing 
with them the dismal story of failure, which was ruin 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 353 

and death to their leader. With them they took such 
booty as the poor settlement of San Thome afforded, 
and they left buried before the high altar of the 
plundered church the body of young Walter Ralegh. 
The heartbroken leader, on the return of the expedi- 
tion on the 2nd March, reproached Kemys for the 
failure. ' For I told him that, seeing my son was lost, 
I cared not if he had lost a hundred more in opening 
the mine, so my credit had been saved. I protest 
before God that if Captain Whitney had not run 
from me at the Granadas, and carried with him 
another ship of Captain Wollaston's, I would have 
left my bodie at San Thome by my Sonne's, or have 
brought with me out of that, or other mines, so much 
gold ore as should have satisfied the King that I had 
propounded no vaine thing. What shall become or 
me now I know not. I am unpardoned in England, 
and my poore estate consumed ; and whether any 
other prince or state will give me bread I know not.' 
Kemys was heartbroken at his chief's reproaches, for 
he, poor sanguine man, had doubtless done his best, 
and incontinently retired to his cabin and committed 
suicide. After his death some of the other officers 
told Ralegh that, on the way down the river, Kemys 
had told them that he could have brought them to 
the mine within two hours' march of the river's side, 
but as young Walter was killed and Sir Walter still 
unpardoned, sick, and unlikely to live, he saw no 
reason why he should open up the mine ; either for 

z 



354 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

the Spaniards or the King (of England). The officers 
answered that though no formal pardon had been 
given, yet the granting of the patent under the great 
seal was tantamount thereto. Kemys then pointed 
out that Ralegh was legally dead, and that the patent 
therefore had no force. This question of the pardon 
had been much discussed before Ralegh left England, 
and Buckingham's kinsmen had offered, for a money 
payment, to obtain a formal pardon. It is said that 
Ralegh submitted the question to Bacon, who told 
him that money was the main desideratum for his 
expedition, and he need not waste it on the pardon, 
now he had the patent under the great seal. It is 
evident by the discussion of the matter by the officers 
as soon as the failure of the expedition was certain, 
that they foresaw the probability of what afterwards 
happened. 

Deserted by two of his ships, many of his men 
mutinous, and his officers falling away from him, as 
from a doomed man, Ralegh groped up the West 
India islands, sending from S* Kits his cousin. Captain 
Herbert, with the intelligence of his failure. To his 
devoted wife he had to send the news, not only of his 
and her ruin, but of the death of their firstborn, and 
there are few more pathetic letters than that which he 
then wrote to his ' dear Besse,' ' I was lothe to write,' 
he says, ' because I knew not how to comforte you ; 
and God knows I never knewe what sorrow meant till 
nowe. . . . Comfort your heart, dearest Besse, I shall 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 355 

sorrow for us both. I shall sorrow the Icsse, because 
I have not longe to sorrow, because I have not longe 
to live.' After sealing the sad letter to his wife, he 
opened it again to write a long postscript, telling her 
the story of the expedition and the alleged reasons for 
Kemys' failure. ' For the rest,' he says, ' there never 
was a poore man soe exposed to slaughter as I was; for 
being commanded upon my allegiance to sett downe 
not onely the country, but the very river, by which I 
was to enter it, to name my shipps, number of my 
men and artillery, — this was sent by the Spanish 
Ambassador to his master the King of Spaine ; and 
the King wrote his letters to all parts of the Indies. 
... If I live, I shall make it known; . . . My 
braynes are broken, and I cannot write much. . . . 
Whitney, for whome I sold my plate at Plymouth, 
and to whome I gave more credit than all my 
captaines, ran from mee at the Granadas, and 
Wollaston with him ; soe as I am now but five shipps, 
and one of those I have sent home — my flyboat — with 
a rabble of idle rascalls in her which I know will not 
spare to wound mee, but I care not. I am sure there 
is never a base slave in the fleet hath taken the pains 
and care that I have done, hath slept so little and hath 
travailed so much. My friends will not believe them ; 
and for the rest I care not.' 

We have seen it asserted by Parker, and it was sub- 
sequently reported by others, that Ralegh's intention, 
when he realised that the Guiana project had failed, 



3 56 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

was to lie in wait to capture Spanish vessels and take 
them to France for sale. It may readily be conceded 
that he would have had no conscientious scruples in 
doing so, for the English, when weak, were always 
attacked by Spaniards ; but there were other considera- 
tions now which must have weighed with him. He 
was ill and heartbroken, his captains had lost faith in 
him, and, above all, he had realised that his failure had 
been mainly owing to the fact that the Spaniards were 
forewarned of all his movements, by the complais- 
ance of the King of England. Under his old mistress 
he might safely have harassed the Spaniards whenever 
he met them on the seas, so long as her responsi- 
bility was saved. But King James was made of other 
stuff. Base and truckling by nature, and awestricken 
at the name of Spaniard, he was willing to descend to 
any sacrifice of dignity rather than offend Spain ; and 
Ralegh saw that to plunder on the high seas now 
would not only have banished his last hope of forgive- 
ness but would have involved his sureties. Lords 
Arundel and Pembroke, in his ruin. To them he 
had given his word to return to England and answer 
for his proceedings, whatever happened. To say that 
he was uniformly a truthful man, or had a high sense 
of honour, would be untrue, but Ralegh would never 
betray a friend who had trusted to his word, and he 
determined to return to England, going by way of 
Newfoundland for the purpose of obtaining fresh 
stores and to careen his ship. Off Newfoundland he 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 357 

had to deal with a formidable mutiny. His soldiers 
endeavoured to force him to take to piracy, and he re- 
fused ; but they made him swear that he would not 
put into an English port without their leave, or at 
least without obtaining for some of them who were 
criminals the King's pardon. Under these depres- 
sing circumstances Ralegh finally sailed towards his 
native land. All through the early months of 161 8, 
Gondomar, in England, was doing his best to magnify 
Ralegh's guilt at Canary. Bailey's lies and un- 
founded suspicions, however, were not long in meet- 
ing with refutation. The English mariner, Captain 
Reeks, who had been at Lanzarote when Ralegh was 
there, returned to his native Ratcliff, and told the true 
story of what had happened. The ofd Lord Admiral, 
enemy of Ralegh as he was, did not love deserters, and 
had Bailey and his ship placed under arrest. On the 
iith January the deserter was brought before the full 
Council, and was made to tell his story in detail, and 
produce the journal which he had written. When his 
assertions were sifted it was seen how unfounded they 
were, and he was severely reprimanded for desertion 
and slandering his chief. He had whispered that he 
could, an he would, ' charge Sir Walter Ralegh and 
other great ones of treason.' This was serious — for 
Ralegh still had friends in the Council, Carew, 
Zouch, Arundel and others, though Winwood was 
dead — and Bailey was challenged for proof. He 
broke down, and alleged some hearsay gossip, and was 



358 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

imprisoned. Gondomar, however, worried James into 
releasing his tool, and with a paltry apology, to the 
disgust of Ralegh's friends, the slanderer was set free. 

Although no news came of Ralegh until the arrival 
of Herbert late in April, with the letters for Winwood 
and Lady Ralegh, the fate of the leader was already 
sealed. Gondomar in March had once more exacted 
from James a positive promise that Ralegh should be 
delivered to Spaniards if he did the least harm. The 
news was received with jubilation in Madrid, and the 
King's secretary thus writes to Gondomar on the sub- 
ject (19th April 1618) : 'Your lordship's account of 
the conference you had with the King, about Ralegh's 
aflFair, pleased our people here so much, that they found 
it almost too sweet. It really seemed too much that 
Ralegh should have to be sent hither, but with the 
choice your lordship has left open to have the punish- 
ment inflicted there, they say there never was such an 
Ambassador before.' 

At last, almost simultaneously with the arrival of 
Ralegh's letters in England, the news reached Madrid 
from the townspeople of San Thome. Their story 
differs somewhat from Ralegh's, but in the main con- 
firms it. They say that the Governor Palomcque 
learnt of the landing of the English at ten at night, 
and made ready to attack thern ; but found them too 
numerous, and retired to the town, followed by the 
English. A messenger was sent warning the in- 
truders that the town was a Spanish possession, but 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 3^9 

nevertheless it was stormed and captured, the public 
funds, papers, etc., being plundered, and the outskirts 
of the town burnt. Palomeque was missing, and the 
townspeople thought he was captured. A Spanish 
soldier was sent to interview Ralegh (this, of course, 
was George Ralegh, although the Spaniards thought 
he was Sir Walter) and to protest against the in- 
vasion, and to beg for the return of the Governor, if 
a prisoner, or news of his fate, if he were dead. ' Be 
content,' the townspeople besovight the English com- 
mander, ' with the harm you have already done, and 
leave us.' The news aroused the greatest indigna- 
tion in Madrid. Gondomar was about to go home 
on leave, but was ordered to stay and see the matter 
through. He was instructed *■ to exaggerate as much 
as you can Ralegh's guilt and try to get the King to 
make a great demonstration.' If James wanted the 
friendship of Spain, he must wreak prompt and 
exemplary vengeance upon those who have done 
harm to Spanish subjects. 'Do not,' says Philip, 
'threaten him; but make him understand that I am 
offended, and that if a proper remedy be not forth- 
coming at once, we shall make reprisals and seize 
English property in Spain.' Before Gondomar re- 
ceived this letter Herbert had brought the news 
to England. The story is told that the Spanish 
Ambassador hastened to the palace, and demanded 
audience of his royal friend. He was told that the 
King was engaged. He said he wished but to say 



36o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

one word, and was admitted on that condition. He 
rushed into the royal presence with uplifted hands 
and assumed horror in his voice, shouting the word 
pirates ! pirates ! pirates ! and the one word repeated 
must have been a perfectly intelligible warning to 
James that he would be called upon to fulfil the 
promise he had made ' on faith, hand and word.' 

Ralegh was storm-driven into Kinsale harbour at the 
end of May, and there landed the offenders from his 
ship ; and shortly afterwards brought the ill-fated 
Destiny alone into Plymouth. During the interval, 
Gondomar had been busy. Telling his King of the 
arrival of the man they had already doomed, he says 
(24th June), 'It would take a long "process" to 
recount all the efforts I employed with the King and 
Council to stay Ralegh's voyage before he sailed j 
and since I had news of his proceedings in Canary, 
to have him and his companions proclaimed traitors, 
and his sureties escheated. I have recently spoken 
most urgently to the King about it, and have also 
written him the enclosed letter on the 14th instant, 
and another on the 20th, when I heard of Ralegh's 
arrival at Plymouth, urging His Majesty to publish 
the proclamation which I now enclose.' The pro- 
clamation was promulgated on the nth June,- and 
pronounces Ralegh to be guilty of ' a horrible invasion 
of the town of San Thome ' ; and for ' a malicious 
breaking of the peace which hath been so happily 
established, and so long inviolately continued.' There 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 361 

was apparcjitly 110 need for investigation or defence 
before condemnation. Ralegh was in the eyes of the 
world then, as he is to-day, one of the most dis- 
tinguished of Englishmen, and yet the King of 
England was willing to forejudge and condemn him 
unheard, at the bidding of the Ambassador of a power 
which Queen Elizabeth had defied for forty years, 
and at a subsequent stage took great credit to himself 
for doing so. Gondomar continues, 'They have 
sent to arrest Ralegh and his ships at Plymouth. 
If he has brought anything of value, it is sure to 
have been stolen, but I am told he has nothing 
but some tobacco, and a dish and ewer of silver gilt. 
It is certain that Ralegh will try to excuse himself, 
by saying that everything has been' done without 
his orders or knowledge, and thus cast the blame 
upon the dead, as he and his friends are already 
doing. But withal, the living bring the plunder, 
and I think everything possible is being done here 
in Your Majesty's interest to bring them to signal 
punishment and restitution. This King gave me 
his faith, his hand, and his word, that if Ralegh 
dared so much as to look upon any of Your Majesty's 
territories or vassals, even if he brought back his 
ships loaded with gold, he would hand all of them 
with Ralegh himself to Your Majesty, that you 
might hang him in the Plaza of Madrid. Now 
that the time has come for fulfilment, and I have 
reminded him of it. His Majesty has promised that 



362 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

he will do it as soon as a judicial examination 
proves the excesses to have been committed ; and 
he says that, for his part, he can do no more than 
he has done in publishing the proclamation, arrest- 
ing the offender, and embargoing his property. He 
says that if Ralegh had attempted to sack Madrid 
itself he could do no more, and he has sent 
Buckingham and Digby to me to say the same, 
and to assure me that Ralegh shall be punished 
v\^ith the utmost severity ; these being the words 
they used, and that Ralegh's friends and all Eng- 
land shall not save him from the gallows.' This, 
however, was not enough for Gondomar, and he 
urges Philip almost violently to instruct the 
Governors of Canary, Azores, etc., as if of their 
own accord, promptly to seize all English property 
and persons. ' I also think it will be necessary that 
Your Majesty's fleet should attack some English 
ships, on the pretence of their being part of Ralegh's 
force. The ships and cargoes might be sold promptly, 
and the money desposited until things are settled.' 
James, he says, wants peace, and must be frightened. 
'The English have changed their tone since I came 
and have shown them that I will stand no nonsense.' 
Whilst this precious letter was being written, 
Gondomar had one of his friendly confabulations 
with James, who, for a wonder — perhaps for the 
purpose of argument only— took Ralegh's part. It 
was asserted by him, he said, that he had a commission 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 363 

from Ouccn i!.lizabeth and Henry IV of France to 
conquer and colonise the Orinoco ; and he had done 
so in 1595. The fortress and town of San Thome had 
been constrvicted since the annexation of the country 
by England. As it was necessary for the discovery and 
working of the mine that this town should be taken, 
Ralegh's men had taken it. Gondomar hit out at 
this, and gave the King a piece of his mind. ' I told 
him that Ralegh's annexation of the country was 
unfounded. If the contention that the conquest of 
Your Majesty's territory was necessary for the working 
of the mine furnished a good reason for Ralegh's 
proceedings, the conquest of England by Your 
Majesty would be justified for the taking of Holland, 
which more really belonged to you than the mine 
belonged to Ralegh. I asked him what he would 
think if a Spanish fleet were to commit similar 
hostilities in the ports of Ireland and Scotland.' 
James's reply to this shows that he was only ' drawing 
out ' the Ambassador. ' The King replied that I had 
spoken very well, and had cited an excellent parallel. 
Ralegh, he said, was a thief, and there was no excuse 
for him. . . . The King assures me that strict justice 
shall be done, but I feel sure that he will be slack, 
unless we keep him up to it by taking the course I 
recommend. Even though the King hang Ralegh 
and his companions, and restore the plunder, I should 
grieve that Your Majesty should be satisfied with this 
for so atrocious a wickedness. These people should 



364 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

be made to sufFer by the seizure of their goods in 
Spain, which would be a warning both to them and 
to their neighbours. Perhaps such an opportunity 
will never occur again of asserting ourselves and 
giving them a lesson. I told the King and Council 
that Your Majesty's goodness might lead you to 
pardon offences against yourself; but conscience will 
not allow you to forgive injuries done to your subjects. 
They are already saying on 'Change that English ships 
and property have been seized in Seville and the 
islands ; and well-disposed people rejoice at it, as do 
some of the councillors, for the good of the King 
himself, because^ though they know he will not on any 
account allow war with Your Majesty^ they see that he 
is more confident of peace than is fitting.'' The last few 
lines probably contain the real key to the exaggerated 
importance attached by the Spaniards to Ralegh's 
expedition. The sacrifice of Ralegh was to be made 
a test point, upon which James was to be frightened, 
and at the same time an object lesson to the world 
of the meekness with which the King of England was 
brought to heel by the Spaniard. 



CHAPTER XVI 

GONDOMAR AND THE KING RALEGH ARRESTED 

ON HIS ARRIVAL AT PLYMOUTH — HIS LETTERS 
TO CAREW 

The methods employed by Gondomar to effect the 
sacrifice of Ralegh for the exaltation of Spain come 
out clearly in his letters, most of -which now see 
the light here for the first time. On the 14th 
June he wrote to James saying that he had always 
urged upon him the danger of Ralegh being allowed 
to sail with so many ships, his only object being 
to rob and lay waste Spanish territory. ' Your 
Majesty deigned to reply that, if he committed any 
offence against the lands or vassals of my master, 
you would deliver him and his companions to me, 
to be sent to Spain to be hanged in the Plaza of 
Madrid. I urged that prevention was much better 
than cure, whereupon Your Majesty replied that 
you would insist upon due sureties being given 
that Ralegh should do no harm. I wrote this to 
my King, who, in accordance with this assurance, 

365 



366 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

refrained from sending out his fleet to oppose Ralegh, 
notwithstanding that he was informed by others of 
the evil intentions of the latter. We know now 
that Ralegh assailed the Canaries, and attacked 
towns in Guiana, burning churches, and committing 
irreparable damage. Captain Bailey left him when 
he saw what he was about, and came hither to 
give an account of his proceedings, when he was 
at once arrested as a traitor, and his goods em- 
bargoed, to the great surprise of everyone, especially 
of myself. Prompt and severe public action should 
now be taken against Ralegh, in order that my 
master may see by Your Majesty's acts that you 
are really desirous of his friendship.' 

A week later, when Ralegh had reached Plymouth, 
another turn or two is given to the screw by 
Gondomar, and the threats of reprisals become 
more insolent. On the 2nd June the Ambassador 
wrote to James : ' Ralegh has arrived in Plymouth 
with all the property he has seized from my 
master's subjects. I do not call it stolen, or him 
a pirate, because, as he returns so confidently to 
an English port, after all I said to Your Majesty 
to prevent his sailing, it is evident that those who 
told my King that Ralegh was going as commander 
of Your Majesty's fleet, for the purpose of way- 
.aying and plundering the Spanish flotilla or of 
conquering my master's territories, will persist in 
their opinion. His Catholic Majesty will certainly 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 367 

see that when I persuaded him that Ralegh would 
do no harm, I was deceived — for the facts are 
notoriously otherwise, . . . Your Majesty has 
so good a memory that you will not forget your 
" faith, hand and word," pledged to me. You are 
so great a King, and so good a gentleman, that 
you will bear me testimony, and admit that all 
Ralegh's acts of war and damage were foretold to 
you in writing and speech a thousand times by 
me . . . and that I never ceased to urge forcibly 
that he should not be allowed to sail. Walter 
Ralegh has robbed, sacked and burnt, and murdered 
Spanish subjects, and has brought back with him 
enough wealth to make him and his supporters rich. 
I have now only to beseech you to take pity on 
my good intentions, in view of the cries and com- 
plaints I shall receive in Spain on account of the 
damage done by Ralegh, and of the measures of 
redress which I understand luill have been adopted 
there, as de?nanded by justice, reason, and my master s 
prestige. For justice demands that Ralegh and all 
his companions should be hanged directly they set one 
foot on English soil, without waiting for them to set 
the other foot. I am quite sure the King, my master, 
would treat any of his vassals so if they had commenced 
this rupture.' In written letters such as the above 
some little diplomatic reserve w^as necessary ; but in 
Gondomar's familiar gossips with James, boasting 
threats were hardly even veiled. In one of the 



368 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

farewell visits to the King, before the Ambassador's 
projected departure for Madrid, in which there was 
much embracing and pressing of hands, James was 
bewailing that the English people were not so 
generous to him as the Spaniards to Philip III. ; 
and then stopping short, he said, ' Of course I 
know that, so far as greatness is concerned, the King 
of Spain is greater than all the rest of us Christian 
kings put together.' ' This ' says Gondomar, ' he 
repeated six times, praising the grandeur of Your 
Majesty. When I thanked him, he seized my hand, 
and held it, pressing it in his, saying that never, in 
public or in private, would he do, or even think, 
anything against Your Majesty, but would in all 
things strive to avoid evil to you. He had, he said, 
quite banished piracy, and for the last two years no 
one had dared to bring to England property seized 
from Spaniards. I should see, he continued, how he 
would punish Ralegh and his people, and the example 
would cause his orders in this respect to be better 
obeyed in future. ... I replied that no doubt his 
good intentions had exerted a favourable influence, 
and I would say as much to Your Majesty ; but I 
wished to point out to him that things were now in 
a very different condition from what they were in 
Oueen Elizabeth's and Drake's time, for Your 
Majesty had taken such measures that the most 
insignificant of your towns was now in a good 
state of defence . . . and pirates that assailed Your 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 369 

Majesty's possessions now would catch nothing but 
fish. ... In talk, the King admitted that if Your 
Majesty would be his friend, he needed nothing 
else.' 

When Gondomar had thus pledged James up to the 
hilt to sacrifice Ralegh in any case, and had hectored 
him into a due condition of humility, he took his 
leave on 26th June, and made ready to start for Spain. 
An account of what followed is best told in a selection 
of his own words, as written to the King of Spain in a 
letter of the i6th July (N.S.), as at the interviews 
therein described Ralegh's fate was finally sealed. 
Cottington, the English Ambassador in Madrid, had 
been bombarded with demands for ve-ngeancc and 
redress, and with threats of reprisals.' He wrote to 
James in a fright, and Gondomar seconded the effect 
he produced, by redoubling his own pressure upon the 
timid King. Cynically he thus informs his King of 
the fact: 'I have applied the medicines I thought 
necessary. To persons who do not know the con- 
stitution of the patient, they may appear violent. One 
of them was to spread a rumour that English property 
had already been embargoed at Seville and the islands. 
To all inquiries on the subject I reply that, if I were 
Your Majesty's Governor there, I should do so ; and 
I hoped it was true. ... I had taken leave of the 
King, and was about to set out for Spain, when, in 
accordance with Your Majesty's orders, 1 deferred my 
departure and sent to Theobalds to ask for another 
2 A 



370 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

audience. The King, fearing from Cottington's letter 
that I v.'ished to see him about Ralegh, and wishing to 
give time for my anger to cool, sent to say that on 
Monday 2nd he would expect me at Greenwich. I 
thought I had better see the Council first, and tackle 
them ; so I conferred with Buckingham, who ordered 
them in the King's name to give me audience when- 
ever I wished. I fixed five o'clock on the 29th June ; 
and on my arrival all the councillors came out to meet 
me, the Archbishop of Canterbury saying that they 
had suspended all their business, and willingly attended 
my orders.' Then Gondomar opened his batteries, and 
set forth the ' murders, sackings, pillage and burnings ' 
that Ralegh had committed, ' such as never was seen 
even in time of war.' He said how offended his King 
was at such insolence. Once more he repeated the 
story of the sureties, and the King's pledge, on ' faith, 
hand and word,' to surrender Ralegh and his com- 
panions to be hanged in the Plaza of Madrid ; on the 
faith of which alone the King of Spain had refrained 
from sending out his fleet to attack the expedition. 
Great complaints were made that Ralegh in his letter 
to Winwood had set forth the names of the captains 
who had attacked San Thome, as if it had been a 
meritorious action, and once more the threats of 
reprisals and boasts of his master's grandeur were 
reproduced for the benefit of the Council. ' If the 
punishment were not swift and exemplary. Your 
Majesty had no need of tlie King of England's 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 371 

friendship, and in future would take good care of 
your own prestige and the lives and properties of 
your subjects. With that I took off my hat, calmly 
said that I liad stated my case, and then re-covered 
myself.' After a little quiet whispering with the 
other covuicillors, Bacon replied. They were all very 
sorry ; but the King should not be held responsible for 
the excesses of a private person. The Ambassador 
might be sure that the King would fulfil his promise, 
and give full satisfaction. Indeed, he had begun 
already : for he held Ralegh's sureties, and on mere 
public rumour he had publicly condemned his pro- 
ceedings. He had, moreover, arrested Ralegh and his 
ships as soon as he had arrived. ^ It was impossible to 
do more. ' Then with a great deal of cordiality he 
expressed a hope that these little accidents would not 
shake the two firm columns of our amity, for if 
this, and other like things, were fittingly punished, 
there was no reason at all for any interruption in 
friendship. The Archbishop wished to have his say, 
to prove his sympathy, but also to bring the question 
into a controversy between two parties. Doffing his 
bonnet and bowing his head low, he very artfully said 
that Ralegh's proceedings certainly deserved exemplary 
punishment, and he did not know what answer Ralegh 
could make, thus trying to indicate that it would be 
necessary to hear him. I stopped him at once, and 
said that it was no part of my business to act as 
Ralegh's prosecutor, and this was not a case for 



372 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

tribunals at all — I had no more to say about it. The 
Treasurer and the Chancellor struck in between us, 
saying they hoped I would continue my usual good 
offices. They were all so courteous and flattering, 
that I was forced to reply in the same spirit. . . . 
I made the most of San Thome and Guiana, as many 
people here think that it is licit to make captures and 
conquests south of the line, and that San Thome 
belonged to England.' On Sunday the ist July (O.S.) 
James arrived at Greenwich, and held a special Council 
about Ralegh's affair. There was much difference of 
opinion, for Ralegh had friends present, especially 
Carew, but the general agreement was that the most 
ample satisfaction should be given to Spain, and Ralegh 
and his companions severely punished ; and James 
made a long speech to the same effect. Ralegh's 
friends endeavoured to cause a diversion by com- 
plaining of Gondomar's attitude before the Council. 
He had, they said, dared to use expressions such as 
no King or Council of England had ever suffered from 
a foreign ambassador, and had tried to saddle the 
King with the responsibility of Ralegh's acts ; saying 
that he had given his 'faith, hand and word,' that if 
Ralegh did the slightest thing against Spain, he should 
be delivered over to be hanged in Madrid, as if, for- 
sooth, England were a tributary to the King of Spain. 
This was rather a facer for James, who said that, 
though he was a peaceful King, yet he knew how to 
defend his rights ; and Buckingham, as behoved him. 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 373 

hotly took up the cudgels. ' Gondomar,' he said, 
' was quite right. He had protested from the first, 
and had been assured that Ralegh should do no harm. 
No wonder he was indignant ; and was very courteous 
and kind not to be more violent about it than he was.' 
Thus encouraged, James said he had no doubt that 
Gondomar was quite right. Would the Council have 
him go to war with the King of Spain to defend such 
atrocious crimes as those of Ralegh ? What would 
the world say if he did ? Working himself into a 
passion with his eloquence, the King answered his 
own question. ' Where he would show his courage,' 
he said, ' was not in warring against the King of Spain, 
but against those traitors, who, under' cover of gold 
mines and bringing treasure to England, and other 
false pretexts, had persuaded him to allow Ralegh to 
go on his voyage. He (James) was a man of his word, 
and had given his pledge to the Spanish Ambassador. 
All he wanted the Council's opinion about was whether 
Ralegh ought to be punished or not.' Most of the 
councillors answered in the affirmative, and Ralegh's 
friends refrained from voting. Since, said the King, 
they were apparently unanimous, if ever he learnt 
that in secret, or in conversation, any of them defended 
Ralegh, he should hold them as traitors. Let this, 
he added, be a warning to others who wanted to 
assail the King of Spain, whose friendship was the most 
desirable thing possible for England. 

The next afternoon, Monday, 2nd July (O.S.), 



374 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Gondomar was rowed down the river to the palace at 
Greenwich. He tripped laughingly into the King's 
chamber and said, ' Look how happy I am in England 
to come back so soon from Spain.' The King hugged 
him to his breast as usual, and said he wished to God 
it were so. Then the room was cleared, the doors 
shut, and the two friends sat side by side. Neither 
wanted to open the ball, and there was a good deal of 
friendly sparring. At last James asked what news 
there was from Spain. This was Gondomar's oppor- 
tunity, and he launched out in denunciation of 
Ralegh's crimes, which he said ' were infinitely greater 
than reported here, and I exaggerated them as much 
as I could.' James was very humble and apologetic. 
He had heard so too, and he hoped Gondomar would 
be satisfied if he saw him doing everything in his 
power to punish and redress them. Gondomar had 
been a true prophet, he said, and he (the King) had 
been grossly deceived. He himself had always doubted 
about the mine, but he never dreamed that such 
excesses would be committed. ' But he thought best, 
even in Your Majesty's interests, that these people 
should vmdeceive themselves and suffer the loss, than 
that he should seem to oppress them. They were 
undeceived now, and were sending all mines to the 
devil. As for his pledge to me, he would leave him- 
self in my hands, but lie hoped Your Majesty would 
not ask more in this case, than if Ralegh had sacked 
a port in England itself; and he could not forget 



GIR WALTER RALEGH 375 

that many persons tried to persuade him that San 
Thome belonged to him, and had been annexed by 
England before the Spaniards came.' Gondomar 
began to protest violently at this, but the King seized 
his arm and stopped him by saying that he was only 
repeating the arguments of Ralegh's friends, and not 
his own. He was very sorry, and hoped Gondomar 
would give him credit for good intentions. He had, 
he said, been examining all that morning and part of 
the previous day men who had accompanied Ralegh 
on his voyage. In the main they had confirmed 
Spanish accounts, except that Captain Kemys was the 
principal culprit, as he had assured the rest that it was 
impossible to discover the miiie until 'the Spaniards 
had been cast out. Seeing that Gondomar was again 
going to protest, James said that he had replied that 
Ralegh was in command and must bear the whole 
responsibility. He (the King) would have justic£ 
done, and really hoped that Gondomar would be 
satisfied. He begged him to send off a courier that 
very night to Madrid assuring the King of liis desire 
to please him and keep the peace. 

When James had run through all the litany of 
debasement, Gondomar at length got a chance to 
speak. He said that he must talk plainly. Would 
the King allow him to speak- — as he himself often 
said — simply as from 'James to James,' forgetting 
that he was a king, or that the speaker was a poor 
gentleman ? 



376 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

James was delighted. Of course he would. 
Gondomar told him, with refreshing .frankness, that 
he, James, could not be judge of Ralegh's case ; for 
the pirate had sailed with his commission, and the 
same influence which had secured it might be exerted 
for his defence. No wonder that the King of Spain 
was being persuaded to take summary vengeance. If 
he (Gondomar) had been Governor of Seville or 
Canary, he would not have waited for orders, but 
would have done it at once. Proclamations were all 
very well before the amount of the depredations was 
known ; but the time was now passed for papers and 
words, for Ralegh and his men were in England and 
still vmhung, whilst the councillors who had supported 
him were not in the Tower. 

The King had promised Gondomar that he would 
not be angry, whatever he might say ; but he lost his 
self-control at this. Snatching off his hat and tearing 
his hair, he shouted that that sort of justice might do 
for Spain, but not for England, or wherever he reigned. 
He never had, and never would, by God's help, con- 
demn anyone without first hearing him in his own 
defence, and a proper trial, even though he had killed 
his (James's) son. God knew the first fault of Adam, 
and yet he did not condemn him unheard. 

Yes, replied Gondomar, sarcastically, he saw the 
laws of Spain and England were quite different ; for 
such men would have been punished in Spain without 
all this talk and delay. But in future the laws of 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 377 

Spain would be changed in accordance. Look ! he 
told James, what the King of Spain had done for him ; 
and now he took the part of a pirate against his friend. 
Gondomar's love for James had forced this out of him, 
he said ; for the duty of friendship was to speak the 
plain truth. But since that was unavailing, the King 
of Spain would now take the matter in his own hands 
and defend his honour. This, of course, brought the 
King; to his knees at once. He beo-o-ed the Ambassador 
to send his peaceful pledges to Spain that very night, 
so as to prevent the war party there from having their 
way. He would arrange the next day for the Council 
to meet on Wednesday and decide upon Ralegh's 
condemnation, which, he promised, should be carried 
out without delay ; and on Thursday he would see 
Gondomar again and take final leave of him with 
that assurance. Gondomar, when he wrote this to his 
King, did not attempt to conceal his exultation at the 
' increased prestige ' it would give to Spain to make 
the King of England meekly hand over one of his 
subjects for punishment in a foreign country. In 
liis delight he left the King's presence in high good 
humour, and went for a walk in the gardens with 
the Duke of Lennox. The King sent after him a 
basket of fine cherries, which he ate as he walked along. 
Presently great shouts of laughter greeted him from 
the windows of a summer-house under which he was 
passing. Looking up he saw the King. ' Oho ! 
where is the Spanish gravity gone to now ? ' shouted 



378 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

the monarch. 'A dignified Ambassador indeed, eat- 
ing cherries out of a basket ! ' These were the men, 
and these were the methods by which Ralegh's 
life was juggled away, each party trying to outwit 
the other in the price to be exacted for the sacri- 
fice. 

But James did not find it so easy to coerce his 
Council into doing a great crime to please the 
Spaniards. Carew, on his knees, prayed for mercy 
for his kinsman, but James would only promise 
that Ralegh should not be condemned unheard. In 
the Council on Wednesday, 4th July (N.S.), there 
was an almost general opposition to sending him to 
Spain to be hanged. But James said he had given 
his promise, and could not break it, and Bucking- 
ham confirmed this, casting the blame upon some 
of his fellow-councillors for assuring the King that 
Ralegh would do no harm, so that His Majesty had 
thought he was safe in making the promise. Bacon, 
though no friend to Ralegh, sought to save the King 
from the supreme humiliation of handing him over 
to the Spaniards. The more complete the satis- 
faction given to Spain the better, he said, but the 
promise, of which so much was made, was mere 
talk, and was never intended to be taken literally, 
or to make England a tributary State. James flew 
into a passion at tliis. His promise was not mere 
talk, he said, and he would fulfil it, without taking 
any more notice of ignorant and ill-disposed persons ; 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 



379 



and with this he rose in a iiiifr, and flunff out of 
the room. 

The next day he saw Gondomar again, and 
positively promised liim to fulfil his pledge. He 
was more affectionate than before : embraced 
Gondomar again and again, and swore friendship 
for ever. The Ambassador said that such kindness 
demanded some return from him, and tliat he (the 
King) should dictate the answer that should be 
written to the King of Spain's dispatch about 
Ralegh. James jumped at the idea, and at once 
dictated ' that he had been grossly deceived, and 
was so horrified at such crimes as had been com- 
mitted, that he would punish them sv/iftly and 
severely, in a way that should fully satisfy the King 
of Spain.' 

This was not what Gondomar wanted ; and he 
very adroitly said that, as the King had accepted 
his services as secretary, he ought, as usual, to 
make him a councillor. ' With all my heart,' said 
James. ' I then said that the dispatch he had 
dictated did not satisfy me, and would do no good. 
He ought, I said, to do as he had promised me, 
and let me write that, although Ralegh's crimes 
were worse even than he had expected, he would 
send him, with all his companions, their ships and 
booty, prisoners to Spain, in order that Your 
Majesty might hang the culprits in the Plaza of 
Madrid. This, I said, would be fulfilling his 



38o BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

promise. It was not much to ask him, surely, to 
send ten or a dozen of the worst of them to be 
executed in Spain.' 

James knew his people would resent this, and tried 
to temporise ; but Gondomar began to hector again, 
and the King tremblingly agreed to send Ralegh and 
the others, in the Destiny , to Spain ; and to recover 
the rest of the damage from Ralegh's sureties to be 
paid to the Spaniards. Gondomar told him it was 
the best thing he could do, if he wanted to avoid 
war ; and then the King called in Buckingham and 
Digby, both bribed servants of Spain, to hear him 
repeat his shameful pledge. In their presence he 
again assured Gondomar that he would send Ralegh 
to Spain, no matter what opposition were offered, 
unless the King of Spain refused to have him, in 
which case Ralegh and all his companions should 
be hanged in England. He left the decision with 
the King of Spain, and begged Gondomar to write 
immediately to him to that effect. But even this 
feast of humiliation did not satisfy the Ambassador, and 
he insolently told the King that he could not write any 
more verbal pledges to his master ; he must have 
it in writing. James said that Buckingham should 
write him a letter embodying the conversation, and 
then, as if ashamed of the unworthy figure he was 
cutting, he asked Gondomar if he had ever in his 
life heard of a king who drafted his dispatches, and 
adopted resolutions like this, at the bidding of a 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 381 

foreign ambassador. For his part, he had never 
dreamt of such a thing before, and he did not believe 
that even the Archduke Albert would be so submis- 
sive to the Spanish Ambassador. To this Gondomar 
replied by asking him, whether he had ever heard 
of an ambassador consenting to act as secretary to 
the king to whom he was accredited, and to take 
his orders as to what he should write to his own 
king. And so more than half in joke ended the 
conference, which was enough to make the dead 
Elizabeth turn in her grave. But the King would 
not let his friend bid him good-bye until he had 
button-holed him apart, to tell him 'some familiar 
domestic things.' 

Before Gondomar left London, ' Buckingham's 
letter reached him, of which the original was sent 
to Spain. James had once told Gondomar that 
' Buckingham was a greater Spaniard than the 
Ambassador himself,' and to judge from the wording 
of this humiliating letter, this can hardly have been 
an exaggeration. After setting forth the King's 
sorrow, and the steps already taken against Ralegh, 
and promising a summary legal process, ' which cannot 
be altogether avoided,' he says the King will be 
as severe in punishment as if the attack had been 
made on an English city, and ' even though Sir 
Walter Ralegh should have returned with his ships 
loaded with gold, taken from the King of Spain or 
his subjects, he would have sent back again both the 



382 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

treasure and the man himself to the King of Spain, 
to be punished in accordance with the promise given 
to you (Gondomar), which promise he is still re- 
solved to fulfil punctually against the persons and 
property of the delinquents, unless he hears that the 
King of Spain is of opinion that it would be more 
convenient and exemplary that they should be 
punished here as severely as their crimes deserved. 
In this matter His Majesty is fully determined to 
take the course which may be most honourable to 
himself, and satisfactory to the King of Spain.' 
Witii this humiliating pledge, Gondomar was con- 
tent, and departed for Spain, certain now that 
Ralegh was doomed beyond all human aid. But 
he still urged upon his King the need for the pre- 
tended seizure of English ships and property in 
Spanish ports, in order that, if any delay occurred 
in the killing of Ralegh, his head might be bought 
by the release of the embargoed property. 

In the meanwhile Ralegh was under arrest at 
Plymouth. He had, of course, heard on his arrival 
of the King's proclamation, and knew that he was 
on his defence. Orders had already been given to 
Sir Lewis Stukclcy, a connection of his own, and Vice- 
Admiral of Devon, to bring him a prisoner to London, 
and realise such property as might be on board the 
Destiny^ but Sir Lewis did not start for the west until 
some time after Ralegh had arrived. In the interim 
it would have been perfectly easy for the latter to 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 383 

have slipped over to France. He made no attempt to 
do so, but in company with his devoted wife and his 
faithful follower, Captain King, remained at Plymouth 
winding up his affairs. We have seen by his bitter 
references in his letters to Winwood and Lady Ralegh 
that he knew that he had been betrayed to failure by 
the King, and that he was likely to be sacrificed to 
political exigencies, but he does not seem to have 
realised fully at first how entirely he was doomed 
beforehand, and he still had hope. The first thing to 
be done was to place his own version of affairs before 
the Council, in order that his friends might act in his 
favour. On the 21st June he wrote a long important 
statement to his true friend. Lord Car-ew ; and as 
Mr Edwards has not printed this letter in his com- 
plete collection of Ralegh's known letters, 1 have no 
hesitation in reproducing it here, notwitiistanding its 
length. Gondomar sent it to his King in Spanish, 
and it is now translated back again into English from 
his version. 

' I am sure your Lordship will have received a copy 
of my letter sent by Captain North to Secretary 
Winwood, of whose death I learnt with great sorrow 
in Ireland. By that letter your Lordship will have 
learnt the reasons given by Kemys for not discovering 
the mine, which could have been done, notwithstand- 
ing his obstinacy, by means of a cacique of the country, 
an old acquaintance of mine, if the companies had 
remained in the river two days longer 5 inasmucli as 



384 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

the cacique oifered pledges to do it. The servant of 
the Governor, moreover, v^^ho is novi^ w^ith me, could 
have led them to tw^o gold mines, not two leagues 
distant from the tow^n, as well as to a silver mine, at 
not more than three harquebuss shots distant, and I 
will make this truth manifest when my health allows 
me to go to London As for the rest, if Whitney 
and Wollaston had not gone from me at the Granadas, 
and the rest had not abandoned me in distress at 
Meny (?) as if they had some great enterprise in hand, 
I would have returned from Newfoundland to Guiana, 
and would have died there or fulfilled my undertaking. 
When I saw that they had deserted me, I resolved to 
steer for Newfoundland to take in water, and clean 
the ship, which resolution we had all adopted six days 
before they left me. But when I was approaching 
the land I was informed that a hundred of my men 
had determined to go ashore and join the English 
settlement, or at all events to do scTwhen the ship was 
hauled up on the beach for cleaning. Their inten- 
tion was to board the best ship of the English flotilla 
at night, and plunder all the friends of England and 
the Portuguese in these ports, knowing that I should 
not be able to get the other ship in order under ten or 
twelve days, and that I had no men to navigate the ship 
I had left. I thereupon called all the company together 
and told them that I had no wish to accuse any of 
them, but as I had been told by some of the masters 
of the violence they intended to commit, I had decided 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 385 

to return without taking in any fresh provisions, 
rather than enter in the Newfoundland ports to 
the great prejudice of my countrymen, and of the 
fishermen of other nations therein. I then ordered the 
master to set sail for England ; and the conspirators at 
once discovered themselves, resisting and shouting that 
they would rather die than return to England. They 
were the greater number, and some of the best men 
I had, some of them being gentlemen. All the 
harquebusses and swords were in the magazine with 
the armour for cleaning, and the mutineers had taken 
possession of them, refusing me admission into the 
magazine. Finding myself in this peril, I gave way 
to the mutiny for a time, and- during that night I 
set my course again for Newfoundland, treating in the 
meanwhile with some of the leaders to abandon the 
mutiny. With great difficulty I persuaded them to 
do so, on condition that I would not return to 
England until I had obtained their pardon for some 
past piracies ; and they demanded my oath. At last 
we all agreed to sail for Ireland, and they chose the 
port of Killibeg in the north, a miserable place fre- 
quented by desperate corsairs. If I had not consented 
to this they would have murdered me and those who 
stood by me, or else I should have killed most of them, 
in which case, as the mutineers were the best of my 
men, I should have been unable to bring the ship into 
port. It is true that when they had calmed down, 
they said that if I returned home poor I should be 

2 B 



386 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

despised, and I answered that even if I were a beggar 
I would not be a robber, or do anything base, nor 
would I abuse the confidence and commission of the 
King. Before doing that, I would choose, not poverty 
alone, but death itself. I am well aware that, with 
my ship (than which in the world there is no better) 
I could have enriched myself by ^^i 00,000 in the 
space of three months, and could have collected a 
company which would have impeded the traffic of 
Europe. But those who have told the King that I 
had feigned the mine, and really intended to turn 
corsair, are now mistaken in their malice, for after 
failing in the discovery of the mine, by the fault of 
another, and after having lost my estate and my son 
and being without pardon for myself, or security for 
my life, I have held it all as nought, and offer myself 
to His Majesty to do with me as he will, without 
making any terms. As for the mutineers, the greater 
number of them fled from me in Ireland, and some 
have been persuaded to surrender themselves to His 
Majesty's mercy. Since my arrival in Ireland I have 
been alarmed not a little, and have been told that I 
have fallen into the grave displeasure of His Majesty 
for having taken a town in Guiana which was in the 
possession of Spaniards. When they heard this, my 
men were so afraid of being hanged, that they were 
on the point of making me sail away again by force. 
With regard to taking the town, although I gave no 
authority for it to be done, it was impossible to avoid, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 387 

because when the English were landed at night to en- 
sure Kemys's passage, the Spaniards attacked them with 
the intention of destroying them, killing several, and 
wounding many. Our companies thereupon pursued 
them, and found themselves inside the town before 
they knew it. It was at the entrance of the town 
that my son was killed, and when the men saw him 
dead, they became so enraged that, if the King of 
Spain himself had been there in person, they would 
have shown him but little respect. With regard to 
the burning of the houses near the Plaza, they were 
obliged to do it, because the people had made loop-holes 
in the walls, and kept up so hot a fire through them, 
that in a quarter-of-an-hour they woufd have killed 
them all, 

'And my Lord : that Guiana be Spanish territory 
can never be acknowledged, for I myself took posses- 
sion of it for the Queen of England, by virtue of a 
cession of all the native chiefs of the country. His 
Majesty knows this to be true, as is proved by the 
concession granted by him under the great seal of 
England to Harcourt. Henry IV., also considering it 
a country not justly in possession of any Christian 
prince, gave it to Montbariot ; and his lieutenant held 
it until, fur want of support, he was captured and taken 
prisoner to Lisbon, Your Lordship has a copy of the 
patent that Count Maurice and the States gave to 
some Flemings, who held part of the country for ten 
years, until by reason of negligence they were sur- 



388 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

prised and defeated by the Spaniards. They are now 
again beginning to settle there. It will thus be seen 
that His Majesty, in any case, has a better right and 
title than anyone. I heard in Ireland that my enemies 
have declared that my intention was to turn corsair 
and fly ; but, at the manifest peril of my life, I have 
brought myself and my ship to England. I have 
suffered as many miseries as it was possible for me to 
suffer, which I could not have endured if God had 
not given me strength. If His Majesty wishes that 
I should suffer even more, let God's will be done ; for 
even death itself shall not make me turn thief or 
vagabond, nor will I ever betray the noble courtesy 
of the several gentleman who gave sureties for me. — 
Your poor kinsman, W. Ralegh. 

* Postscript. — I beg you will excuse me to my lords 
for not writing to them, because want of sleep for 
fear of being surprised in my cabin at night has almost 
deprived me of my sight, and some return of the 
pleurisy which I had in the Tower has so weakened 
my hand that I cannot hold the pen. ist (21st) June 
1618.' 

This important letter, which, so far as I have been 
able to ascertain, is now printed for the first time, 
must have been written on the day of Ralegh's arrival 
at Plymouth, and before his wife left London. It 
contains the chief points upon which he afterwards 
depended for his formal defence, and clears up much 
of the obscurity which has hitherto surrounded his 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 389 

actions. It is evident that he had no idea of the 
serious light in which it suited the King to regard 
his proceedings ; but the remark about his sureties 
indicates that, even if he had know^n, he vv^ould have 
returned to face the consequences rather than have 
left them in the lurch. Before the above letter v^^as 
dispatched, apparently, he received a copy of the 
allegations made against him by some of his deserting 
officers, and wrote a second letter to Carew without 
date, but evidently enclosed with the first. As this 
letter also is not included by Mr Edwards in Ralegh's 
complete letters, it is reproduced here in full, trans- 
lated from the Spanish version sent to the King of 
Spain by Gondomar. 

' Since my arrival here I have had handed to me a 
copy of the statement given to your Lordship against 
me. They must say something for themselves. The 
truth is they all wanted to turn thieves but Warham 
St Leger, if they had had a chance, but they were 
obliged to come back. I myself was in manifest peril 
because I wished to return. 

' They say I lingered at Plymouth (i.e.^ on the out- 
ward voyage), but they know I should not have stayed 
there a day but for Pennington, St Leger, Bailey, 
Whitney, and Wollaston. I entered Falmouth by 
reason of head winds, and put into Ireland in conse- 
quence of a heavy gale, in which Chidley's pinnace 
and all her men were lost, and one of my boats 
driven into Brest. Of the provisions I took in Ireland 



390 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

they all had their share, although they had credit 
there for their requirements. The only things I got 
in the Canaries was a basket of oranges and three 
loaves of sugar, sent to me by the Countess of 
Gomera. Chidley was in no want of provisions, for 
he brought a supply for eight months from his home 
in England, and the rest of them had great quantities 
from Ireland, where I used my influence with Lord 
President not to send them prisoners to England, as 
he otherwise would have done, and I did not know 
what vile accusations they had made against me. 
With regard to the sacking of San Thome, I have 
told you the truth in the other letters. I have only 
to add these men have not said a single true 
word. 

'As to their last accusation, that I was going to 
abandon my country and bring them into trouble, 
certainly if I had had such an idea I could have carried 
it out with their full consent, but I risked my life to 
oppose it, and the fact of my having come hither 
freely and unconditionally, and cast myself upon His 
Majesty's mercy is a sufficient proof of my intention. 
If I left here to live elsewhere because I had not a 
pardon, why did I come back ? I only give your 
Lordship a brief answer to the accusations. I hope 
to live to answer them to their faces, and prove them 
all to be cowards and liars, and, in spirit, thieves. I 
write this after having sealed the other letters, and I 
pray you give a copy of them to my poor wife, who, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 391 

with the death of her son and these rumours, I fear 
will go mad. I forgot to answer the third article, in 
which they accuse me of having sacked the town 
before seeking the mine. I have already said that the 
men entered the town at night before they were aware 
of it, and that they burnt the part near the Plaza to 
save their lives, as probably they would not have 
willingly done otherwise, because in those houses 
everything of value was burnt. But with regard to 
their most impudent assertion, that the entering of the 
town and burning the houses was contrary to all my 
promises and protestations, I shall be content to suffer 
death if I had any part or knowledge whatever of the 
burning or sacking. I knew nothing about it. It 
took place for the reasons already stated, and I could 
not, moreover, protest against a thing of which I had 
not even thought. 

* At the end of the article they say that it was done 
without their consent ; and it is true that it was 
never proposed. But their desire to appear ignorant 
of the enterprise is imprudent, because I never did 
anything without consultation. Besides Pennington 
had a company there {i.e., at San Thome) under his 
lieutenant, and Chidley also obtained a company which 
he said he would command himself, but apparently 
he did not dare to do so. S^ Leger also had his 
company there ; so that it is evident that they partici- 
pated in the enterprise, and could not be ignorant of it.' 

These two letters are of the highest possible import- 



392 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

ance as evidence in Ralegh's favour. It is undoubted 
that he had provided against the possibihty of attack 
from the Spaniards in his attempt to reach the mine, 
and before his departure he made no secret to anyone 
of his intention to use force, if force were used against 
him. The real point of the accusations against him, 
when he returned, were, first that he intended to 
turn pirate, and next that he had attacked a territory 
already possessed by the Spaniards. That they had a 
settlement at the mouth of the Upata, below the 
Caroni, seen by Kemys in 1596, he was of course 
aware ; and also that it had been shifted to some 
other place since, but he had no exact knowledge 
of its new position, and, from the letters given 
above, evidently did not anticipate that it would 
be necessary to attack it before he reached the 
mine. The establishment, moreover, of one isolated 
settlement could not be held to give the Spaniards 
dominion over the whole of the Orinoco, and pre- 
sumably if Ralegh's expedition had landed at any 
other place than in the neighbourhood of San Thome, 
even King James must have held him guiltless. It is 
conceivable that, if Ralegh had been with the river 
expedition, he would have gone elsewhere to explore 
on finding that the new town of San Thome blocked 
the mine, and would not have landed. But in any 
case, when once the English were first attacked, 
as from the convincing statements in the above 
letters they evidently were, it was impossible to avoid 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 393 

a conflict, and it seems unjust and inconsistent to 
have punished the absent leader for it. According 
to James's view, his crime w^as for landing in the 
place at all, when they found the Spaniards in pos- 
session ; but as this latter fact was unknown to 
Ralegh, and he was hundreds of miles away, his 
personal offence in the matter was certainly not 
heinous. With regard to his piratical intentions 
on the silver fleet, however much or little founda- 
tion there may have been for the accusations against 
him in that respect, and they are not unlikely to be 
true, for ' no peace beyond the Line ' was an axiom 
generally accepted by men of his school, the fact 
that he attempted nothing of the sort, and exposed 
his life at the hands of the mutineers iii consequence, 
finally returning to England, as he had promised, 
should surely have absolved him from blame. But 
the point of his guilt or innocence was now of 
secondary consideration. We have seen by the letters 
of Gondomar that he was condemned before he 
reached Guiana at all — indeed, before he left England ; 
for the extortion of the promise from the foolish King, 
upon his 'faith, hand and word,' to send Ralegh to 
Spain to be hanged if he ' even so much as looked 
upon the territories or subjects of Your Majesty' 
was practically a death warrant. James gave to 
the Ambassador full particulars and charts of Ralegh's 
projected voyage ; and it was intended by Gondomar 
from the first that he should be drawn into a conflict, 



394 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

which would afford a pretext for the Spaniards to 
claim the fulfilment of the King's promise. What- 
ever he did, or failed to do, Ralegh was doomed from 
the moment that Gondomar found himself unable to 
stop the expedition, and cajoled the King into giving 
his fatal pledge upon conditions for the fulfilment 
of which the Spaniards could so easily invent a 
pretext. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Ralegh's journey to London — stukeley — attempt 

TO ESCAPE pretended MADNESS AT SALISBURY 

ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE — BETRAYED BY 

STUKELEY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST RALEGH — 

ATTEMPTS TO ENTRAP HIM- — MOCK TRIAL AT 
WESTMINSTER BEFORE -THE COUNCIL — CON- 
DEMNED TO DEATH — LAST INTERVIEW WITH 

HIS WIFE ON THE SCAFFOLD IN OLD PALACE 

YARD 

Ralegh with his wife and Captain King started for 
London in the middle of July. They had not gone 
twenty miles on their way before they met Sir Lewis 
Stukeley coming to arrest Sir Walter, and they had 
to retrace their steps. Stukeley at once set about 
realising the contents of the Destiny. He was a 
kinsman of Ralegh and affected friendship with him, 
but events proved him to have been as black-hearted 
a traitor as ever lived. Whilst he was busy with 
the ship, Ralegh was simply placed under nominal 
arrest in the house of a private gentleman. It was 

395 



396 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

three weeks since the Destiny had arrived, and during 
that time, as we have seen, the leader had learned 
to the full the accusations against him. He had, 
however, made no attempt to escape from the 
country j although in King James's ' declaration ' or 
apology for his judicial murder, written by Bacon, 
the contrary is falsely asserted. But now Lady 
Ralegh's entreaties prevailed upon her husband to 
seek to avoid the plots which she knew were laid 
for his destruction. By the aid of King a boat was 
hired to carry him to France, and it lay out of 
gunshot in the harbour. At night Ralegh entered 
a boat to board her, and had gone a quarter of a mile — 
had practically, indeed, placed himself beyond danger 
— when the thoughts of his pledge to his sureties, 
Arundel and Pembroke, rushed through his mind, 
and he insisted upon returning. Lady Ralegh 
was in despair, but she could not move him. He 
would face his accusers and justify himself. 

Stukeley and his charge, with Lady Ralegh, Captain 
King, and a French doctor named Manourie, whom 
Stukeley had engaged to spy upon Ralegh, started 
for London on the 25th July. Manourie talked 
chemistry with his patient, and wormed himself 
into his confidence. On reaching Salisbury, Ralegh 
hinted to him that he had reasons for wishing to 
delay on the journey, in order that his friends in 
London might have longer time to work on his 
behalf, and asked him to administer an emetic, or give 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 397 

him other means to feign sickness. Manourie con- 
sented to do so, and it was agreed that Lady Ralegh 
and King should go forward to London, whilst their 
chief found means to stay at Salisbury. King had 
never ceased to bewail the lost opportunity of escape, 
and had broached to Manourie a plan for another 
attempt, in which the doctor pretended to associate 
himself, and Ralegh himself consented. A ship was 
to be placed in the Thames in v/aiting for an oppor- 
tunity for flight to France. Suddenly, after Lady 
Ralegh and King had gone, Stukeley was horrified to 
find that his charge had apparently lost his reason, and 
was gnawing the rushes on the floor and behaving like 
a wild animal. An ointment provided by Manourie, 
moreover, had covered him 'with -a fearful purple 
eruption which was thought to be the plague, and 
the emetic had rendered him deathlike in appearance. 
The device was an undignified one, and did nothing 
to improve his case when the trick was divulged ; but 
it gave Ralegh during his few days' delay time to write 
his Apologie for the Voyage to Guiana^ upon which 
his formal defence rests, and which will always remain 
the best record of the events of the expedition, taken 
in conjunction with the diary of the first portion of 
the voyage up to the 13th February. James was on 
a progress through the southern counties at the time, 
and arrived at Salisbury whilst Ralegh was there, as 
the prisoner doubtless had foreseen and intended. 
The King v/as scandalised at the delay, and per- 



398 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

emptorily ordered Stukeley to conduct his charge to 
London. This was on the ist August, and if 
Manourie is to be believed — which is extremely 
doubtful — through all the rest of the journey to 
London, Ralegh was speaking disrespectfully of the 
King, and talking of the plans of escape. The 
Frenchman says that he offered him ^^50 a year 
for life for his aid. At Staines, he asserts that Ralegh 
gave him a splendid jewel worth £1^'^, with which 
to purchase Stukeley's connivance, which in appear- 
ance, at least, was easily obtained. At Brentford, 
Ralegh was met by a French gentleman named 
David de Novion, Sieur de la Chesne, the translator 
at the French embassy, who managed to tell him 
that the French agent had something of great interest 
to communicate to him. On reaching Lady Ralegh's 
house in Broad Street, whither he was taken before 
going to the Tower, Le Clerc, the French agent, and 
La Chesne saw him and said they had made arrange- 
ments for his escape, and had a ship waiting to carry 
him to Calais. But King had made arrangements 
too, and his ketch was lying in the river. Ralegh 
preferred to escape by means of King, and all arrange- 
ments were made. Stukeley pretended to enter fully 
into the plans, but gave reports constantly to Secretary 
Naunton, who had succeeded Winwood. Ralegh was, 
indeed, doubly betrayed, for King's boatswain. Hart, 
had turned traitor, and it was he who awaited the party 
at the stairs to row them down the river to the ketch off 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 399 

Tilbury. Ralegh, with Stukeley and his son and a page, 
on the night of Sunday, 9th August, crept out of the 
house in Broad Street and walked to the Tower Dock, 
where they found King and his men waiting with two 
wherries. Before stepping into the boat Stukeley 
saluted King and asked him whether he had not 
shown himself an honest man ; to which the 
captain drily replied that he hoped he would con- 
tinue so. Before they had gone twenty strokes, 
the rowers said that they were being followed by 
Mr Herbert's boat. Ralegh was disturbed, but 
Stukeley sought to tranquillise him. Then the 
prisoner did an unfortunate thing. He asked the 
oarsmen — who, of course, did not know him, for he 
wore a false beard — whether' they ^ would continue 
to row on, even if an attempt was made to arrest 
him in the King's name. This thoroughly alarmed 
the men, who began to cry, and almost stopped 
rowing altogether. Ralegh said he had had a 
squabble with the Spanish Ambassador, and offered 
the men ten pieces of gold to go on, and Stukeley, 
pretending to be annoyed at his fears, threatened to 
kill, the oarsmen if they tarried. But Ralegh was 
still full of fears, and could not be convinced by 
all the protestations and embraces of Stukeley, and 
on approaching Plumstead peremptorily ordered the 
boatmen to turn back. Herbert's boat then ap- 
proached them, and Ralegh saw he was betrayed, 
but still apparently had no suspicion of Stukeley, 



400 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

whom he begged still to retain him in his custody, 
and gave him some further present ; whilst the 
traitor hugged him, and pretended to invent plans 
for his safety. He persuaded his prisoner to land at 
Greenwich, and the pursuing boat followed them. 
When they were landed the scoundrel threw off 
the mask, and handed his prisoner to men from the 
other boat, wearing the livery of Sir William S^ 
John, that kinsman of Buckingham who had re- 
ceived the bribe to get him out of the Tower. 
' Sir Lewis,' said Ralegh, when he saw he was 
betrayed, ' these actions will not turn out to your 
credit.' Nor did they, for the execrations of all 
England followed Sir Judas Stukeley, as he was 
thenceforward called, and he died miserably, ruined 
and mad, after fruitlessly seeking like the King to 
free himself from the odium of Ralegh's death. 

On the morning of Monday, loth August, the 
prisoner once more entered the fortress that had 
held him so long. The next day, Tuesday, there 
was held a solemn meeting of the Council of State 
in far off Madrid, to decide upon his fate ; and it 
was resolved that it would be more convenient that 
he should be executed in London rather than in 
Spain. And so the great Englishmen was con- 
demned by a foreign tribunal before even the form 
of a trial had been gone through in London. Since 
he had been condemned to death,' it was now necessary 
to search for some plausible legal pretext for killing 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 401 

him. The Privy Council tried very hard, by fre- 
quent interrogatories, to entangle Ralegh himself 
into compromising admissions. With regard to his 
proceedings on the voyage he was immovable, and 
on perfectly firm ground. First, he said, San Thome 
did not belong to Spain, for he had annexed the 
whole region himself in 1595, and had continued 
his communications with it ever since : the King 
had acknowledged this by granting Harcourt's 
patent, and his own ; 2nd, what had been done 
was in self-defence ; and 3rd, the Spaniards had 
simply gone there when they were informed of his 
project. He contended, moreover, that the common 
law of England had no jurisdiction for acts com- 
mitted out of the realm of" England ; and the 
Admiralty Court must decide in his favour, as what 
was done was on territory belonging to King James. 
There seemed certainly no sufficient ground for 
passing the death sentence for what he had done on 
the voyage ; but if only he could be convicted of 
treasonable practices with the French, a decent reason 
for his condemnation could be found. It was not 
convenient to probe too deeply his former communica- 
tions with the French Ambassador, but La Chesne 
was a comparatively humble individual, and his offer 
to aid an escape was seized upon with avidity. He 
was arrested, carried before the Council, and closely 
interrogated. At the first few examinations he denied 
everything, as did the French agent. The latter was 

2 c 



402 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

told that he had abetted the escape of a man he knew 
was under sentence of death, and would not any longer 
be considered as a diplomatist, his denials being treated 
as proofs of the many vague charges of intrigue which 
were brought against Ralegh. Father Fuentes, a 
Spanish agent, was told by the King on the 12th 
October, that he was daily discovering the most 
extraordinary things about Ralegh. He (Ralegh) 
had intended, he said, by means of the French, to 
oust the Spaniards from America, but that he (James) 
would prove his friendship for Spain by punishing 
Ralegh. Shortly afterwards Ulloa, the Spanish Charge 
d'AfFaires, went to Royston to convey to the King of 
England Philip's orders that Ralegh was to be executed 
in England, and James then said that these disclosures 
about Ralegh had made him lose his friendship for 
France. The French had tried to attract Ralegh to 
their country, and Des Marets had been at the bottom 
of the whole expedition. But Ralegh should be 
executed and full reparation made for the damage 
done to Spain. He had only brought back with him 
two little bits of gold, but they should be given up, 
as they subsequently were, to Ulloa. To this Ulloa 
replied, that he (James) was delaying Ralegh's execu- 
tion longer than was needful: he hoped the matter 
would be promptly settled, and in the next letter he 
wrote to Philip (28th October) he enclosed what 
purported to be a commission given by Admiral 
Montmorenci to Ralegh before he sailed. Some sort 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 403 

of confession was squeezed out of La Chesne, though 
what it was is not dear, for all the papers in the case 
have disappeared; but whatever it was, public opinion 
was encouraged to believe that it disclosed a deep plot, 
by which Guiana was to be handed over to the King 
of France; and the Spanish agent's letters are full of 
horrified references to the iniquity of it. All through 
the autumn Ralegh was struggling in the toils, and 
the Spanish agent reports that in October even bets 
were being laid at Court that he would escape with 
his life. The Oueen constantly pleaded for him, but 
her pleading was of little use, for she, too, was fading 
into her grave, and had lost all influence over the 
King; and the Committee of the Council, whose duty 
it was to find some pretext by which Ralegh might 
* handsomely ' be hanged, could only report to the 
King that they had not found it easy. Ralegh had 
foiled them at every turn; and as a last resource, they 
appointed as a special keeper and spy upon him a 
certain Sir Thomas Wilson, who for many years had 
been engaged in services of a like nature, and at once 
managed to worm himself to some extent into Ralegh's 
confidence. He promised him the King's forgiveness 
if he would tell all he knew, he intercepted his letters 
to his wife, he sought to lure him into compromising 
admissions about France, and his alleged piratical in- 
tentions; but withal little or nothing could be obtained 
of an incriminatory character. ' I never sought for 
any French commission nor never had any,' said Sir 



404 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

Walter, and to this assertion he adhered. Sick and 
weak, and in utter despondency, he wrote in October 
to Buckingham one of those servile letters which came 
from him in moments of profound distress, in which 
he seeks to excuse his late attempt to escape, by the 
evidently false suggestion that it was prompted only 
by a desire to prove to the King that he had been 
sincere in the Guiana voyage, by returning thither at 
once with one ship, ' being resolved (as it is well 
known) to have done it from Plymouth, had I not 
been restrained. Hereby I hoped, not only to recover 
His Majesty's gracious opinion, but to have destroyed 
all those malignant reports which have been spread of 
me.' The suggestion that he intended to start from 
France, even with one ship, to go to Guiana, was an 
unfortunate one, and certainly could not be expected 
to do him much good with the King. To Carew, 
also, he wrote from the Tower, again vigorously set- 
ting forth his view of the case in similar terms to those 
in which he wrote from Plymouth. A famous letter 
to the King, which both Mr Edwards and Mr 
Stebbing believe to have been written from the 
Tower on the 24th September, in which he says, 
' If it were lawful for the Spaniards to murder 26 
Englishmen tyenge them back to back, and then cutt 
theire throates . . . and it may not be lawfuU for 
Your Majesty's subjects, being forced by them, to 
repel force by force, we may justly say, O ! miserable 
English,' must have been written from Plymouth soon 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 405 

after his arrival, as a copy of it — or, as I believe, the 
original — w^as sent to the King of Spain on the i6th 
July. By September he w^as, as he knevv^, marked for 
death in the Tower, he had no spirit for writing such 
a letter to the King as this. His tone had entirely 
changed. 

At length James began to lose patience. The 
Spanish agent and Father Fuentes were pestering him 
constantly about the delay in killing Ralegh, the 
negotiations about the marriage with the Infanta were 
at a critical stage, and it became necessary, if they 
were not to cool, that James should somehow fulfil his 
promise. Every subterfuge to prove something 
treasonable against the prisoner had fj^iled, and Bacon 
and the lawyers of the Crown were instructed to devise 
some legal fiction by which Ralegh might be sacri- 
ficed. His old opponent Coke drew up the opinion at 
which they arrived. Ralegh, in effect, it said, being 
now under sentence for high treason, could not be 
tried for any other crime committed since, because 
he was dead in law ; and the Committee of Council 
recommended that the King should issue a warrant for 
the death sentence of 1603 to be carried out, whilst at 
the same time publishing for the information of the 
people an account of his ' late crimes and offences.' 
By this means it would be made to appear that only 
respect for the law prevented him from being osten- 
sibly punished for his new ' crimes,' though really he 
would be so. An alternative plan was suggested, by 



4o6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

which he might be judged by a secret sitting of the 
whole Council and the judges, in the presence only of 
certain invited noblemen and gentlemen, and charged 
with his recent offences, whereupon the Council 
might recommend the King to issue a warrant for 
his execution on the attainder of 1603, 'in respect of 
his subsequent offences.' How deep was James's dis- 
trust and hatred of Ralegh is seen in his reply to this 
recommendation. He adopted the second procedure, 
but with the omission of the judges and the few 
invited spectators. No sort of publicity, however 
modified, was to be allowed, because it would make 
the prisoner too popular, as was found by experiment 
at the arraignment at Winchester, where by his wit 
he turned the hatred of men into compassion. 

It was therefore decided that the Council should 
sit secretly as a quasi-criminal court, and advise 
the King as to whether the new offences committed 
by Ralegh would justify the execution of the death 
sentence passed in 1603. That the proceedings of 
this mock trial were a mere matter of form is proved 
by the fact that on the 23rd October, the day 
before the final meeting of the Council, a consulta- 
tion of the law officers was held as to the way in 
which the sentence was to be carried out. It was 
decided that the mere issue of a warrant for execution 
was not now sufficient, as so many years had elapsed 
since the trial ; but that the prisoner should be brought 
up under Habeas Corpus before the King's Bench, 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 407 

and asked if he had any reasons to allege why sentence 
should not be passed, as he might plead that a pardon 
had been granted, or that he was not the person 
who had been sentenced. This course was decided 
upon, and the warrant sealed with the Great Seal 
before the proceedings before the Council on the 24th 
October. Mr Stebbing, Ralegh's latest biographer, 
quotes, as representing what took place on this 
occasion, the notes from the Lansdowne MSS. (142 
fol. 396) in which the Attorney-General, Sir H. 
Yelverton formulated the whole of the charges, and 
Ralegh replied to them. I am of opinion, however, 
that he is mistaken in this, and that the notes refer 
to an early stage of the proceedings, namely, the 17th 
August. The records of the sitting of the 24th 
October have really been lost, but it is evident that 
the prisoner was subjected to another long inter- 
rogatory, and that finally Bacon informed him that 
the Council would advise the King to order the 
sentence of 1603 to be executed. Private as the 
proceedings were, however, the Spanish agent, Ulloa, 
knew all about them, for he wrote to King Philip on 
the 1 6th November (6th November English style) 
saying : ' On Saturday last, the 3rd instant (24th 
October), Walter Ralegh was taken from the Tower 
to the Council, where they kept him under examina- 
tion from 3 o'clock in the afternoon until 7 at night. 
I understand that the High Chancellor of England 
(Bacon) described to him the injuries he had inflicted 



4o8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

upon Your Majesty's subjects and territories ; and how 
greatly he had abused the King's permission to discover 
the gold mine, of which he had pledged his word he 
knew the situation. When he had finished the 
recital, he told Ralegh that he must die. On hearing 
this Ralegh lost consciousness for a time, and on 
coming to himself I am told he spoke most wildly. 
He was taken back to the Tower and put into another 
room. They changed his clothes and his servant, and 
appointed guards to watch him, who were relieved 
every hour, never leaving him alone day or night in 
order that everything he said might be known. This 
care was also necessary so that he might not put an 
end to his life by poison, the knife, or otherwise. On 
Wednesday the 7th he was removed from the Tower 
well guarded to the King's Bench, where he found 
Sir Henry Montague, Chief Justice of England, and 
the Sheriffs. The Chief Justice notified to Ralegh the 
sentence of death, and delivered hirn to the Sheriff, 
who was authorised to execute the King's warrant. 
Ralegh wished to speak but was not allowed to do 
so, and was conveyed to the Gatehouse prison.' 

This relates pretty accurately what really took 
place. Ralegh was aroused from his bed in the 
Tower in the early morning of the 28th October to 
be taken to the King's Bench. He was in a burning 
fever, and dressed hastily without arranging his curly 
white hair. As he passed through the corridors, an 
old servitor pressed forward and reminded him of this : 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 409 

' Let them kem it that have it,' he repHed, and then as 
if to bring a smile to the man's woeful face he added, 
' Peter, dost thou know of any plaister to set a man's 
head on again when it is off? ' 

On his arrival at the King's Bench, Yelverton, the 
Attorney-General, demanded that sentence should be 
passed upon him for the conviction of 1603. The 
Clerk of the Crown read the records of the previous 
trial, and the prisoner was then asked by Montague if 
he had anything to urge why sentence should not be 
passed. Ralegh began to defend himself about 
Guiana, but was told that was not to the purpose. 
' All I can say then,' he replied, ' is that the judgment I 
received to die so long since cannot now, I hope, be 
strained, for since then it was His Majesty's pleasure 
to grant me a commission to proceeed on a voyage 
beyond the seas, wherein I had martial power on the 
life and death of others, so, under favour, I presume I 
stand discharged of that judgment. . . . By that com- 
mission I gained new life and vigour ; for he that hath 
power over the lives of others must surely be master 
of his own.' ' The commission does not infer pardon,' 
said Montague, ' because treason is a crime which must 
be pardoned by express words, not by implication.' ' If 
that be your Lordship's opinion,' replied the prisoner, 
' I can only put myself upon the mercy of the King. 
His Majesty, as well as others who are here present, 
have been of opinion that in my former trial I received 
but hard measure. Had the King not been exasperated 



410 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

anew against me, certain I am that I might have lived 
a thousand years before he would have taken advan- 
tage of that conviction.' Then he pleaded that he 
might be granted some little time to arrange his affairs, 
and asked for pens, ink and paper ; for he had some- 
thing, he said, of which to relieve his conscience, and 
to satisfy the King. The plea that his commission 
condoned his past treason was his last hope, and that 
was now gone. So, calm and smiling, the great 
Englishman was led from the Hall to the little prison 
of the Gatehouse hard by ; doomed beyond hope now 
to be sacrificed for daring to assert the right of 
England to conquer and civilise a share of the vast 
continent of South America, a martyr to the cause of 
a great colonial Britain ; done to death by the basest 
King that ever sat on Britain's throne. Not an hour 
was to be lost before the shameful deed was consum- 
mated. The King had hidden himself in the country 
to be out of the way of appeals for mercy, or the 
execrations of the indignant populace, and before the 
day waned the scaffold was being erected in Old Palace 
Yard, where the last scene of the tragedy was to be 
enacted. The black deed was to be got through 
early ; if possible, before the people were fully astir, 
for it was Lord Mayor's day, and all the citizens 
would flock to see the brave show which came from 
the city. From the moment that all hope on earth 
had fled for him, there was no more weak whining, no 
more abject servility for Ralegh. Dignified and 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 411 

cheerful, as in his best moments, without bravado and 
without complaint, his last hours vindicated his 
character for true courage and nobleness. On his 
way from the Hall to the Gatehouse he met an old 
acquaintance, Sir Hugh Beeston, whom he asked 
whether he would come to the execution the next 
morning. 'I do not know what you may do for a 
place,' he added ; * for my own part, I am sure of one. 
You must make what shift you can.' His kinsman, 
Thomas Thynne, came to see him at the Gatehouse, 
and seemed to think that he was more cheerful than 
was becoming. ' Do not carry it with too much 
bravery,' he said ; ' your enemies will take exception 
if you do.' 'It is my last mirth in this world,' he 
repHed ; ' do not grudge it me. When I come to the 
sad parting you will see me grave enough.' The 
Dean of Westminster, who attended him, was struck 
with the same idea, and warned him against vainglory. 
' He seemed to make so light of it that I wondered 
at him. But he gave God thanks that he never feared 
death. . . . He was the most fearless of death that 
ever was known, and the most resolute and confident, 
yet with reverence and conscience.' 

After nightfall the devoted wife was brought to the 
Gatehouse to take a- last leave of her husband. She, 
poor soul, had prayed and hoped up to now that he 
might be saved. Her boy, Carew Ralegh, had ad- 
dressed a passionate appeal to the King for his father's 
life, and Ladv Ralegh had continued to pray to her 



412 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

husband's friends and kinsmen on the Council to 
intercede for him. But it was all of no avail ; and 
the only grace she could get was that his dead body 
should be delivered to her. In their last hours on 
earth together he told her he could not trust himself 
to speak of their dear little son ; it would make the 
parting only the more bitter for them both ; and as 
if to divert her own thoughts from her approaching 
widowhood, he dwelt mainly upon her future vindica- 
tion of his good name, in case, as he feared, that he 
might be prevented from himself doing so on the 
scaffold. Whilst they were thus communing, the 
clock of the Abbey boomed out the hour of midnight, 
and the agonised wife was obliged to tear herself away. 
' It is well, dear Bess,' were his last words to her, 
' that thou mayest dispose of that dead which thou 
hadst not always the disposing of when alive.' 

Through most of the night the prisoner mused and 
wrote. He drew up notes for his intended speech 
upon the scaffold ; and at some time during his last 
hours must have written the verse which was found 
in his Bible after his death. 



' E-ven such is time ! luho takes in trust 
Our youth, our joys, and all tve ha-ve. 
And fays us but luith earth and dust : 
PVho, in the dark and silent gra-ve. 
When 'we ha-ve ivandercd all our ivays, 
Shuts up the story of our days. 
But from that earth, that gra-ve and dust. 
The Lord shall raise me up, I trust, ^ 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 413 

The Dean of Westminster was with him to the 
last, but from his account of his conversations with the 
prisoner he would seem to have been more contro- 
versial than consolatory. 'After he had received 
the Communion in the morning,' writes the Dean, 
' he was very cheerful and merry, and hoped to per- 
suade the world that he dyed an innocent man, as he 
sayd. Thereat I told him that in these dayes men did 
not dye in that sort, innocent, and his pleading of 
innocency was an oblique taxing of the justice of the 
realm. He confessed justice had been done, and by 
course of law he must dye, but yet I should give him 
leave, he sayd, to stand upon his innocency in the 
fact. ... I then putt him in mind of the death of 
my Lord of Essex : how it "was generally reported 
that he was a great instrument of his death, which, if 
his heart did charge him with, he should repent and 
ask God forgiveness. To which he made answer as in 
the former relation ; and sayd, moreover, that my 
Lord of Essex was fetched off by a trick, which he 
privately told me of. . . . He was very cheerful that 
morning he dyed ; eate his breakfast hertily, and 
tooke tobacco ; and made no more of his death than 
it had been to take a journey ; and left a great 
impression in the minds of those that beheld him ; 
inasmuch that Sir Lewis Stukeley and the Frenchman 
grow very odious. This,' adds the Dean, ' was the 
news a week since ; but now it is blowen over, and 
he is allmost forgotten.' 



414 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

As he was about to leave the Gatehouse on his long 
journey a cup of wine was handed to him, and he was 
asked whether it was to his liking. ' I will answer you,' 
he replied, * as did the fellow who drank of St Giles's 
bowl as he went to Tyburn, "It is good drink, if a 
man might but tarry by it." ' 

On the morning of the 29th October 161 8 
Sir Walter Ralegh was led forth for the short 
walk from the Gatehouse to the scaffold in Old 
Palace Yard. He wore a black velvet wrought 
gown over a brown satin doubtlet, with a ruff band 
and black taffety slashed breeches, with ash-coloured 
silk stockings. It was still early — between seven and 
eight o'clock — but the news had spread that the famous 
man was to lose his life, and crowds of people had 
flocked to Westminster to see the sight. The story is 
thus told by the Spanish agent, Ulloa, to King Philip, 
at whose behest the head of Ralegh was to fall. 
* They brought him on foot, surrounded by 60 guards, 
to the square at Westminster, near the palace, where 
the scaffold had been erected. When he ascended it 
he spoke, as I have been told, for three-quarters-of-an- 
hour, saying that he went to discover that gold mine, 
hoping to enrich England, and that he had sailed with 
that intention, but that Captain Kemys, who guided 
him, had deceived him ; for at his despair at having 
mistaken the place he had killed himself Ralegh 
said not a word about the atrocities he had committed 
at San Thome or elsewhere in the Indies, and denied 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 415 

everything he had confessed to the King and Council 
of his treaties with France, declaring that the French 
agent had spoken to him but once out of courtesy. 
He excused Lord Carew and Lord Hay, Earl of Don- 
caster, who were those that aided him in his expedition 
to Guiana. He also entreated everyone to believe 
that he had not been instrumental in causing the 
death of the Earl of Essex, nor had he rejoiced thereat, 
as had been imputed to him. On the contrary, he 
had regretted it more than his own sins. He declared 
that he was not an Atheist, as some thought, but a 
Protestant and a loyal subject of the King. When he 
ended his discourse, the executioner with his axe 
(which Ralegh felt to see whether it ■w,as sharp) cut 
off his head with two strokes, and held it up to the 
multitude. As this happened on Lord Mayor's day, 
an immense number of people were present, and the 
punishment was consequently the more public. 
Although he was sentenced to be hanged, his friends, 
who, as I have said, are many and powerful, did their 
utmost with the King to obtain his pardon and save 
his life [in cipher^ and the Queen has helped as much 
as she could to this end), but the only favour they 
could obtain was that he should be beheaded instead 
of hanged. 

' On the scaffold, near Ralegh, until he was beheaded, 
were the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of Oxford, Lord 
Chamberlain, and the Earls of Doncaster and North- 
ampton, and several members of the Council 



4i6 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

were present at a window, concealed behind the 
shutters. Ralegh's spirit never faltered, nor did his 
countenance change. On the contrary, he was ex- 
tremely brave through it all. [In cipher. The 
death of this man has produced a great commotion 
and fear here, and it is looked upon as a matter of 
the highest importance, owing to his being a person 
of great parts and experience, subtle, crafty, ingenious, 
and brave enough for anything. His supporters had 
declared that he could never be executed. ... A 
declaration is being drawn up of Ralegh's death, 
which the King tells me will soon be made public' . . .) 
This is the testimony of Ralegh's enemies. His 
friends are even more emphatic as to his noble bearing 
upon the scaffold. He had always feared that he 
would be secretly put out of the way to prevent his 
last public vindication from his own mouth, and his 
first exclamation of rejoicing on the scaffold was that 
he was brought out in the light to die. He was weak 
with fever, and could hardly be heard by the members 
of the Council who sat at a window near, so his 
friends Arundel, Doncaster and others came down to 
the scaffold and stood by him whilst he spoke. Most 
solemnly, and with convincing eloquence, he told his 
story once again. He called God to witness, with 
his dying breath, that he was a loyal Englishman, and 
had had no treaties with the French, that he had had 
no hand in the death of Essex, and that his action in 
the Guiana expedition had been throughout honest and 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 417 

sincere. He indignantly refuted the lies of Manourie 
and Stukeley as to his alleged disloyal expressions and 
intentions, and then calmly and cheerfully prepared 
for the end. ' I have a long journey to go,' he said, as 
he put off his long velvet gown and satin doublet, 
and then he asked the headsman to let him see the 
axe. 'Dost thou think I am afraid of it.' Then, 
smiling as he handed it back, he said to the Sheriff, 

* This is a sharp medicine, but it is a sound cure for all 
diseases.' When he was asked which way he would 
lie upon the block, he replied, ' So the heart be right, 
it is no matter which way the head lies.' Then, at two 
strokes, the wise white head fell, and one of the 
brightest geniuses that England ever saw was offered 
up ; a fruitless sacrifice to the cause of an impossible 
alliance with the power whose arrogance he had dared 
to withstand. He had made the fatal mistake of 
supposing that the high-handed traditions of Eliza- 
beth maintained their potency under the sway of 
James. 

The day after his death Lady Ralegh wrote a sad 
little letter to her brother, asking him to allow her 

* to berri the worthi boddi of my nobell hosban, Sur 
Walter Ralegh, in your chorche at Beddington. . . . 
God hold me in my wites ' ; but for some reason, now 
unknown, the headless corpse was buried within the 
chancel of St Margaret's, Westminster. What ulti- 
mately became of the head is uncertain ; but it was 
long preserved by Lady Ralegh, and on her death by 

2 D 



41 8 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

her son, Carew, in whose grave at West Horsley in 
Surrey it is believed it was interred. 

A groan had involuntarily burst from the crowd as 
the axe fell. The groan was echoed all over England 
as the news spread. The Dean of Westminster was 
premature when he wrote a week after : ' Now it is 
blowen over, and he is almost forgotten,' for Ralegh 
embodied in the minds of the people their long fostered 
hatred of the Spaniards, and he became in his death 
far more popular than ever he had been in life. A 
generation had arisen which knew him not in his 
insolent splendour ; his long stay in the Tower, and 
the talk of his mystic and profound activities there, 
had made him something of a popular hero, even 
before his death ; and thenceforward the men who had 
hounded him to his doom were marked down for 
public reprobation. If the idea of a Spanish match 
was unpopular before, it became doubly hateful now, 
and soon James himself saw the mistake he had made. 
He was cunning and crafty, but he was dealing with 
a power far more crafty still, and had been bullied into 
parting with his choicest merchandise before exacting 
the price. In vain he tried when it was too late to 
appreciate his wares and exact an equivalent. He 
told the Spaniards that he had put Ralegh to death 
principally to give them satisfaction, and they would 
be looked upon as the most unworthy persons in the 
world if they did not act sincerely now. He pointed 
out to them how he had strained the affections of his 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 419 

people in putting to death a man ' who was so able 
to have done him service. Yet, to give them content, 
he hath not spared him, when by preserving him he 
might have given great satisfaction to his subjects, 
and had at command upon all occasions as useful a 
man as served any prince in Christendom.' But it 
was too late for James to praise Ralegh now. The 
Spaniards had gained their point ; the King of 
England had admitted that all South America was 
sacred to them, had shown to the world that he 
accepted an inferior position, had sacrificed one of his 
most gifted subjects, and was outwitted in the pay- 
ment of the price for the humiliation of his country. 
This is not the place to recount the ridiculous fiasco 
of the Spanish match, which made James and his son 
the laughing stock of Europe ; but before the King's 
death it must have been patent to him, as it was to all 
the world, that Ralegh had been sacrificed in vain, 
and that the King's base compliance to arrogant 
demands had reduced England again to a secondary 
place amongst the nations, from which the genius of 
Elizabeth had raised it. 

A recent biographer of Ralegh has remarked how 
much less considerable were his actual achievements than 
his undoubted gifts, that in action he had generally 
failed, and that not a single one of the great aims of his 
life was successfully carried through by him. He was, 
in truth, a man of the very highest intellectual gifts, 
but whose moral nature was infinitely inferior to 



420 BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN 

them. In this he was typical of the age in which he 
lived. The great Queen, who struck the keynote of 
the period, suffered from a similar disproportion of the 
two sides of her nature, and many of the greatest 
minds that surrounded her were allied to dwarfed 
moral attributes. The very intensity and vitality of 
Ralegh's character exaggerated in him this disparity. 
He was physically brave beyond compare, and yet he 
begged for bare life like a very coward. He was 
insolent, vain and domineering to the last degree, 
and yet he could cringe and snivel abjectly at the 
least ill-fortune that befell him. He was greedy, 
unprincipled and rapacious, and yet he squandered 
his fortune lavishly on his great patriotic scheme of 
colonisation, by which he personally could hardlv hope 
to gain. His contemporaries utterly disbelieved 
either in his honesty or his truth, and yet his noble 
written protestations seem to bear the absolute stamp 
of veracity upon them. With all his vast ability, he 
had not that magnetic moral strength that attracts 
men to a leader in moments of defeat, and enables 
him to retrieve reverse by victory. At the moment 
of failure, in the great crisis of his fortune, during 
the last Guiana voyage, he crumbled down hopelessly, 
and could only recriminate and lament, whilst his 
men fell away from him because he was unable to 
lead them, and he actually returned home a prisoner 
in his own cabin. 

His great misfortune was that he became a royal 



SIR WALTER RALEGH 421 

favourite. In the purely intellectual domain he would 
have been eminent, even in an age w^hich possessed a 
Shakspeare and a Bacon. The reason why he is so 
much more popular v^^ith posterity than he was with 
his contemporaries, is that the former judge him 
chiefly by his writings, the product of his brain, 
whilst the latter were necessarily more closely in 
contact with the actions of his life, the outcome of 
his weaker moral and physical nature. 

But judge him how we may, we cannot deny him 
a commanding place in a grand and spacious age. 
Even if his faults were greater than they were, his 
love and faith in the future of England as the mighty 
mother of empires and the mistress of the seas, 
demand for him the judgment-that he was a towering 
Englishman, and died for a great ideal. 



INDEX 



African Possessions, Source of 
Portuguese, 2. 

Alligators in Orinoco River, 158. 

American possessions, 2. 

Anarchy, Reign of, on the seas, 7. 

Anjou, Duke of, Elizabeth's flirta- 
tion with, 36 ; crowned at 
Antwerp, 39, 

Antonio, Don, pretender to Portu- 
guese crown, 100. 

' Apologie for the Voyage to 
Guiana,' Ref. to, 349, 397. 

Ark-Ralegh, The, 50, 94. 

Armada, Spanish, Cause of defeat 
of, 4 ; coming of the, 88, 
90 ; destruction of the, 92. 

Aremberg, Count, Flemish Am- 
bassador, 256, 257, 262, 266, 
269, 274. 

Avila, Admiral Menendez de, 
20. 

Azores Expedition, 118 ; sailing of, 
205 ; second sailing of, 206 ; 
return of, 211. 



B 



Babington Conspiracy, The, 49. 

Bailey, Captain, deserts Guiana 
Expedition, 329 5 examined 
by James I., 335 ; his charges 
against Ralegh refuted, 357. 

Bark-Ralegh, The, 60. 

Barry, Lord, Ralegh's endeavour to 
capture, 25. 



Beaumont, French Ambassador, 
264, 270. 

Berreo, Spanish Governor of Trini- 
dad, 150-154, 172, 173, 175, 
177. 

Bloody Tower, The, Ralegh con- 
fined in, 282, 

Blount, Sir Christopher, 215, 222. 

Bona-venture, The, 119 

Britain, her place amongst na- 
tions, 2. 

British Empire, future and past, I. 

Brooke, George, 254, 255, 259, 

- 271,273. 

Brownists, The, a dissenting sect, 
137. 

Buckingham, Duke of, his aid 
enlisted for Ralegh, 306 5 
supports James I. against 
Ralegh, 380, 

Burr, Walter, bookseller, 296. 

' Bye ' treason, 255, 259, 260, 267. 



Cabots, The, fail to reach Cathay, 

Cadiz, Attack on, 185 ; capture of, 

191, 193 ; burning of Spanish 

vessels at, 196 
Car, Robert, obtains the Sherborne 

estate, 290. 
Caravel, Description of, 3. 
Carew, Sir George, cousin to 

Ralegh, 229. 
Carew, Sir Peter, 8, 12. 



423 



424 



INDEX 



Carlile, Captain, with Ralegh and 
others, petitions Elizabeth, 195 
a follower of Ralegh, 68, 

Cecil, Sir Robert, 201 et seq. ; his 
intrigues with James VI., 239 ; 
his explanation of Ralegh's, ar- 
rest, 253; helps Lady Ralegh 
282 ; death of, as Earl of 
Salisbury, 294. 

Champernoun, Sir Arthur, 8, 

Champernoun, Gawen, Ralegh's 
cousin, 16, 17. 

Charles V. and French kings, 
Wars between, 6. 

Chatillon, Cardinal, 16. 

Chesne, Sieur de la, translator to 
the French Embassy, 398, 
401, 403. 

Cloak story, Vagueness of, 34. 

Clyst Heath, Battle of, 11. 

Cobham, Lord, 257 et seq.; his 
exculpation of Ralegh, 264 ; 
retractation of same, 271. 

Coke, Attorney-General, 266 et seq. 

Colonial Empire, First practical 
suggestion of a, 19. 

Colonies, Difficulty of establishing, 
140. 

Columbus, Triumph of, 3 ; repulsed 
by Henry VII., 4. 

Compulsory tillage. Act for, 228. 

Conde, Death of, in 1569, 17. 

Cornish sailors. Voyages of, 6. 

Cotton MSS., The, 241. 



D 



Des Marets, French Ambassador, 

320, 321. 
Desmonds, Confiscated lands of the, 

42. 
Desmond, John of. Hanging of, 30. 
Desmond Rebellion, The, 22 ; 

Philip ll's. help for, 23 ; still 

in existence, 25 ; got under, 30. 
Destiny, The, Ralegh's flagship, 

320, 360, 380, 395. 



Devonshire, Hatred of people of, 
towards Spaniards, 11. 

Devonshire sailors. Voyages of, 6. 

Digby, Sir Jolin, successor to Sher- 
borne estates, 330, 335-7. 

' Discoverie of Guiana,' Ref, to, 
170. 

Drake, Sir Francis : Expedition to 
West Indies, 70, 71 ; arrival 
at Virginia, 79 ; Virginian 
colonists return with, 80 ; 
arrival in England, 82 ; sinks 
ships in Cadiz harbour, 89 ; 
captures the San Felipe, 89 5 
and Spanish Armada, 93 ; 
in command of sea force of 
Portuguese expedition, 99 ; 
disastrous end of West Indies 
Expedition, 181, 



Elizabeth, Queen : Navy during 
time of, 3 ; commerce of 
merchant service at be- 
ginning of reign, 6 ; strength 
of navy at commencement of 
reign, 6; national policy of, 7; 
secretly receives Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert, 19 ; Ralegh's first 
favourable impression on, 33; 
her flirtations with the Duke 
of Anjou and Jean de Simier, 
36 ; conspiracy against, 44 ; 
Essex, the favourite of, 51; 
tobacco anecdote of, 84; 
quarrels with Essex, 201; her 
repugnance to countenance a 
successor to the crown, 230; 
death of, 246. 

Empire, Responsibilities of, 2. 

English Channel infested with 
privateers, 6. 

English crown. Right of accession 
to, 230 et seq. 

English Protestants persecuted by 
Spaniards, 7. 

English seamen, Efficiency of, 4. 

English ships, Superior build of, 4. 



INDEX 



425 



Essex, Earl of : Elizabeth's 
favourite, 51; on board the 
Siviftsure, 100; restored to 
favour, 102; marriage, 117 
quarrels with Elizabeth, 201 
friendship with Ralegh, 202 
in command of Azores Ex- 
pedition, 205; return to 
England, 21 15 insolent to 
Elizabeth, 2125 petty spite 
against Ralegh, 213; accepts 
supreme command in Ireland, 
214; treachery of, 216; arrest 
of, 216; set at liberty, 220; 
trial and execution of, 223 et 
seq. 

Essex plot. Formation and collapse 
of, 221 et seq. 

Evesham's, John, account of 
privateering, 81. 



Fardell, the Manor House of 
Ralegh's father, 10. 

Fasts, Abolition of, 6. 

Fayal, Ralegh's attack, on, 208. 

Febre, Le, physician to Charles II., 
291. 

Fernandez, Simon, pilot, 21, 64, 
78. 

Fitzgerald, Sir James, Execution 
of, 23. 

Fitzwilliams, Sir William, Viceroy 
of Ireland, 103. 

Florida, French and Spanish ill- 
feeling at, 20. 

France, First religious War in, 16. 

Francis I., his attempt to attack 
Isle of Wight, 48. 

Frobisher, Sir John, Ralegh's vice- 
admiral, 124. 



Garden Tower, The, 287. 
Gascoigne, Sir H. Gilbert's treatise 
published by, 68. 



Geronimo, Bishop, Capture of 
library of, 197. 

Gerrard, Sir George, 56. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, Ralegh's 
half-brother, 95 in command 
of English contingent at 
Flushing, 18; return to 
London, 19; with Ralegh 
and others petitions Elizabeth, 
19; patent granted to in 
1578, 21; Knollys' insult to, 
21; in Galicia, 22; his brutal 
treatment of rebel Irish, 
23 ; colonisation of North 
America, 54 et seq.^ Ralegh's 
letter to, 61; Newfoundland 
annexed by, 62; death of, 
63; Ref. to treatise of N.-W. 
passage, 68. 

Gilbert, Sir John, half-brother to 
Ralegh, 195, 

Golden Hinde, The, 52, 63, 

Gondomar, Count de, Spanish 
Ambassador, 311, 316, 317, 

- 322, 323? 326, 329 e( «?■> 
3355 343? 357 et seq. 

Gorges, Sir Arthur, cousin to 
Ralegh, 209. 

'Great Cordial,' Ralegh's, 291. 

Great Harry, The, 5. 

Grenville, Sir Richard, with 
Ralegh and others, petitions 
the Queen, 19; in command 
of Virginian Expedition, 71; 
at Mosquito Bay, 72; arrival 
at Wokoken, 73; first con- 
flict with natives, 73; returns 
to England, 74; capture of a 
rich prize, 745 return to 
England, 80; made vice- 
admiral of Azores Expedition, 
118; death of, 122. 

Grey, Lord, Viceroy of Ireland, 
23 ; offended with Ralegh, 30, 
32. 

Guiana: First thoughts of colon- 
ising, 142; legend of, 144; 
Antonio de Berreo's expedi- 
tion to, 145; Ralegh's ex- 



426 



INDEX 



peditions to, 146, 148, 176, 
301, 313; Ralegh's plan to 
conquer, 171; Spanish ex- 
pedition to, 173; details of 
Ralegh'9 third expedition, 
324; Ralegh's fleet starts for, 
326; sickness in Ralegh's ex- 
pedition, 337; failure of, 354. 
Gunpowder Plot, Ralegh suspected 
of complicity in, 289. 



H 

Hariot, Thomas, mathematician, 
68; first Englishman to adopt 
smoking, y^-^ his praises of 
smoking and tobacco, 83; his 
treatise on Virginia, 85; ac- 
cusations of Atheism against, 
III. 

Harvey, Sir George, Governor of 
the Tower, 263, 268. 

Hatfield, Poems by Ralegh dis- 
covered at, 107. 

Hatton, Lord Chancellor, 36, 44. 

Heneage, Sir Thomas, one of 
Elizabeth's lovers, 36, 38. 

Henry, son of James I., his ad- 
miration of Ralegh, 292 et 
seq.i death of, 295. 

Henry VII.: Columbus repulsed 
by, 4; navy improved by, 4. 

Henry VIII., Foundation of naval 
supremacy laid by, 4. 

History of the fVorld, Reference 
to, 142, 295, 299. 

Howard, Lord Henry, a spy in 
pay of Spain, 240. 

Howard, Admiral Lord Thomas, 
60, 182, 184, 187, 190, 205. 

Huguenots, Cardinal Chatillon 
solicits aid for, 16. 



Ireland, Scheme to invade, 204; 



failure of the action, 21 1; 
Essex in supreme command, 
214. 



James I. succeeds to crown of 
England, 246; changes made 
by, 250 ; pardons Cobham, 
Gray and Markham, 274; his 
strictures on the third Guiana 
Expedition, 315. 

Jarnac, Battle of, 7. 

Jonson, Ben, 297, 299. 



K 

Kemys, Captain, in command of 
Guiana Expedition, 176; ac- 
count of his voyage, 179 et 
seq.; in search of silver mines, 
344> 346, 347; suicide of, 

353- 
King, Captain, 396-400. 



Lake, Sir Thomas, his letter to 
Count Gondomar, 334. 

Lane, Ralph, first Governor of 
Virginia, 74. 

Leicester, Earl of, 18; Ralegh's 
letter to, in 1856,49; decline 
of his influence with Eliza- 
beth, 50. 

Lennox, Duke of, 240. 

Lisbon, Expedition to, in 1589, 99 
et seq. 

Lismore Castle, Re-building of, 

102. 

M 

Mackworth, Captain, 24. 
Madre de Dios, Capture of, 129. 



INDEX 



427 



' Main ' treason, 259. 

Manourie, a French spy on Ralegh, 

396,417. 
Mary, Queen, Poverty of, 5; her 

marriage with Philip, 11,; her 

will, 231. 
Mary Rose, The, 5, 8. 
Maurice of Nassau, 219. 
Mendoza, Spanish Ambassador in 

Paris, 44-48, 58, 70. 
Minerals, various sorts discovered 

by Ralegh, 164, 167. 
Ministers, English, in pay of Spain, 

271. 
Montes, Roque de, Governor of 

Cumana, 173, 174; quarrel 

with Berreo, 175. 
Montoncourt, Battle of, 17. 
Morequito, Guiana chief, 160, 161. 
Morgan, Sir William, 27, 46. 
Mountjoy, Lord, in command of 

troops in Azores Expedition, 

205; succeeds Essex in Ire- 
land, 215. 
Moyle, his life saved by Ralegh, 

26. 



N 



Natives at Virginia, First conflict 
with, 73. 

Natives, Cruelties by Spaniards 
on, 67. 

Naval Renaissance during reign of 
Elizabeth, 3. 

Navy, Foundation of supremacy of, 
laid by Henry VIII., 4 ; unfit 
for sea in 1555, 5 ; strength 
of at beginning of Elizabeth's 
reign, 6. 

Newfoundland annexed by Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert, 62. 

Norris, Sir John, 18 ; in command 
of forces in Portuguese ex- 
pedition, 99. 

North America, Colonisation of, 
54 et seq. 

Northumberland, Earl of, his letter 
to James VI., 245, 



O 



Olivares, Count de, 237. 

Orange, Cape, 340 

Orinoco Indians, Description of, 

156. 
Orinoco River, 155 ; entered by 

Ralegh, 159 
Orinoco Expedition, 344 ; failure 

and return of, 352. 
Ormond, Earl of. Deputy of 

Munster, 23 5 cowardice of, 

26 ; his dislike of Ralegh, 35. 



Palomeque de Acuna, governor of 
San Thome, 352, 358, 359. 

Parker, Captain : His story of 
Orinoco River Expedition, 
346. 

Peckham, Sir George, with Ralegh 
and others petitions Elizabeth, 
19 ; receives power to ex- 
plore, 56. 

Perez, Antonio, 182. 

Perrot, Sir Thomas, 18. 

Philip II. of Spain : His force to 
help Desmond rebels, 23 ; 
they crave quarter, 24 ; are 
slaughtered, 24 ; prepares 
Armada, 88 ; attempt to 
interrupt his silver fleet, 
118 et scq. 

Piers, Captain, 27. 

Plague, The, of 1603, 265. 

Portuguese African possessions, 
Source of, 2. 

' Prerogative of Parliament,' The, 
300. 

Prest, Agnes, Martyrdom of, 12. 

'Priests' (or 'Bye') treason, 255, 
259, 267. 

Primrose, The, Kidnapping ex- 
ploits of, 71, 

Privateering, Flourishing time of, 
61,75,81. 

Prize money of 1591 Expedition, 
123. 



428 



INDEX 



Protestants, Persecution of, by 
Spaniards, 7. 



QuESADA, Father, 194, 195. 



R 



Ralegh, Lady {ne'e Elizabeth 
Throgmorton), 125 ; a faith- 
ful wife, 127 ; her letters to 
Sir Robert Cecil, 147, 178. 

Ralegh, Katherine Champernoun, 
Ralegh's mother, Courageous 
act of, 12. 

Ralegh, Sir Walter : Parents and 
ancestors, 8 ; skill in mari- 
time affairs, 8 ; youth of, 
9, 15 ; family, 10 ; birth- 
place, lo ; birth, 15 ; at 
Oxford, 16 ; joins the Hugue- 
not forces, 17 ; a member of 
the Middle Temple, 18 ; re- 
ference to his trial, 18 ; riot- 
ous life in London, 18 ; 
quarrels with Sir Thomas 
Perrot and is lodged in Fleet, 
18 ; with others petitions 
^ueen Elizabeth, 19 ; patent 
granted to, 21 ; troubles of 
first expedition, 21, 22 ; re- 
ceives a captain's commission, 
22 ; in Ireland, 23 ; Poet 
Spenser, friend of, 24 ; with 
Captain Mackworth slaughters 
Philip n.'s expedition, 24 ; 
quartered at Cork, 25 ; en- 
deavour to capture Lord Barry, 
25 ; narrow escape of, 26 ; 
joint government of Munster, 
27 ; letter to Earl of Leicester, 

27 ; impeachment of Ormond, 

28 ; bravery of, 29 ; captures 
Lord Roche, 29 ; snubbed by 
Lord Grey, 30 ; return to 
London, 30 ; character of at, 



30, 31 ; attraction of, 32; 
first favourable impression on 
Elizabeth, 33 5 cloak story, 
34 ; first royal favour, 35 ; 
jealousy of Elizabeth's lovers, 
36 ; gorgeous attire of, 38 ; 
plans for extending empire, 
38 ; study, 39 5 granted use 
of Durham House, 40 ; em- 
oluments, 41 ; rapaciousness, 
42 ; share of Desmond 
estates, 42 ; receives Lord 
Wardenship of the Stannar- 
ies, 43 ; made Vice-Admiral 
of the West, 44 ; becomes 
Captain of the Queen's Guard, 
44 ; supposed conspirator 
against Elizabeth, 45 ; inter- 
views with Sarmiento, 47 ; 
in league with the Spanish, 
49 ; and Babington Conspir- 
acy, 49 ; wealth largely in- 
creased, 50; his ships, 60 ; his 
letter to Gilbert, 61 ; fresh 
letters patent granted to, 64 ; 
colonising ideas of, 68 ; an 
M. P. for Devonshire, 69; 
colonising patent obtained, 
69 ; a shareholder in Drake's 
expedition to the West Indies ; 
prevented from taking part in 
Virginia Expedition, 71 ; in- 
terested in privateering busi- 
ness, 81 ; introduces tobacco, 
82 ; spends lavishly for public 
good, 86 ; unpopular with 
the crowd, 86 j fourth expedi- 
tion to Virginia planned, 87 ; 
prepares for the Armada, 90 ; 
commissioned to raise 2000 
men, 91 ; Mayor of Youghal, 
91 ; strengthens Portland de- 
fences, 92 ; reference to His- 
tory of the World, 93 ; 
unmerited blame on account 
of Virginian colonists, 95 ; 
patrioticglory of, 96 ; squabble 
with Earl of Essex, 99 ; re- 
ceives gold chain from Eliza- 



INDEX 



429 



beth, 102 ; retires from the 
Court, 102 ; generosity to 
men of letters, 104 ; meets 
Spenser again, 104 ; his posi- 
tion as a poet, 106 et seq. ,• 
some of his MS. found at 
Hatfield, 107 5 disliked by cour- 
tiers and people, 1 10 ; accusa- 
tion of Atheism against, n i ; 
His Life of S^ueen Elizabeth, 
1 14 J refs. to The His- 
tory of the World, US 5 
Elizabeth's chief favourite, 
1890, 117 ; debarred from 
joining Azores Expedition, 
118; admiral of 1592 Expedi- 
tion, 124; rumours of his 
marriage, 125 j failure of 
expedition and return to 
London, 126 ; his arrest, 126; 
marriage, 127 ; released on 
parole, 130; loss on 1592 
Expedition, 133 ; at liberty, 

133 5 parliamentary duties, 

134 et seq. f obtains estate 
of Sherborne, 137 5 ref. to 
'Cynthia,' 137; birth of a 
son, 138; friends and enemies 
of, 138, 139 ; revenues and 
expenditure, 141 5 his expedi- 
tion to Guiana, 146 et seq. ; 
sailing of the expedition, 148 ; 
at Trinidad, 149 j captures 
and burns San Joseph, 151 ; 
makes Governor Berreo a 
prisoner, 151 ; crosses the 
Bay of Guanipa, 154 ; on the 
way to Orinoco River, 155 ; 
his description of Orinoco 
Islands, 155 ; hardships on 
Orinoco River, 156 et seq.f 
meets Guiana chiefs, 160, 
161 ; creates good impres- 
sion on Indians, 166 ; is 
presented with chief's son, 
166 ; return to England, 168 ; 
disbelief in his statements, 

170 ; plan to conquer Guiana, 

171 J jealousy of Spanish 



Government, 173 5 second 
expedition to Guiana, 176 ; 
his difficulties with his sea- 
men, 183 ; his account of 
capture of Cadiz, 191 ; 
wounded at Cadiz, 193 ; his 
return to England, 198 ; again 
in favour at Court, 202 ; his 
friendship with Cecil and 
Essex, 202 ; reference to 
Opinion upon the Spanish 
Alarum, 204 ; Rear-Admiral 
of Azores Expedition, 205 ; 
attack on Fayal, 208 ; capture 
of Villa Dorta, 209 ; Essex in- 
dignant at his action, 210 ; 
return to England, 211 ; 
broken health, 212; petty spite 
of Essex to, 213, 214 ; his 
famous letter to Cecil, 217 ; 
appointed Governor of Jersey, 
221 ; cruel slanders in refer- 
ence to Essex, 225 ; multi- 
farious duties, 226; beginning 
of' disagreements with Cecil, 
229 5 an enemy in Lord 
Henry Howard, 240 ; further 
slander on his religion, 244 ; 
first meeting with James I., 
248 ; commencement of 
downfall, 249 ; has to quit 
Durham House, 251 ; de- 
nounced by Cobham, 257 ; 
detained in the Tower, 258 ; 
attempts suicide, 262 ; his 
means of communication with 
Cobham, 263 ; Cobham's ex- 
culpation of, 264 ; beginning 
of trial of, 265 ; found guilty 
and sentenced to death, 269, 
270 ; reprieved, 278 ; corre- 
spondence of, 278 et seq. ; 
confined in the Bloody Tower, 
282 ; severe straits of, 282 ; 
his petitions to the King, 285 
et seq. ; literary labours in 
the Tower, 288 ; loss of 
Sherborne estates, 289 ; 
chemical and medical ex- 



430 



INDEX 



periments, 289 ; his ' great 
cordial,' 291 ; references to his 
literary labours, 296 et seq. ,• 
his desires for expansion of 
the Empire, 301 et seq.; 
his many efforts to regain 
freedom to explore, 305 ; re- 
lease of, 307 ; preparations 
for the Guiana Expedition, 
312; details of the Guiana 
Fleet, 324 ; starting of the 
Guiana Fleet, 326 ; arrival 
at the Canaries, 327 ; Cap- 
tain Bailey deserts the fleet, 
329 ; arrival and kindly 
treatment at Gomera, 337, 
338 ; illness of, 338 5 arrival 
at Cape Orange, 340 ; at 
Trinidad, 345 ; his son killed 
346, 349 ; failure of the 
Guiana Expedition, 354; a 
mutiny on board, 357 5 return 
to Plymouth, 360 ; arrest of, 
370, 395 ; special councils on, 
372, 378 ; his letter to Lord 
Carevi', 385 ; his account of 
the taking of San Thome, 
386; is prevailed on to escape 
and returns, 396 ; another 
escape arranged, 398 5 and 
frustrated, 400 ; again con- 
fined in the Tower, 400 5 
his letters, 404 ; last trial of, 
406 ; last interview with his 
wife, 417 5 his last speech, 
414, 416 ; death of, 417 ; 
sketch of his character, 419. 

Ralegh, Walter, of Fardell, father 
of Sir Walter, 8 ; manor 
house of, 10 ; a pronounced 
Protestant, 10 ; nearly killed 
by rustics, 1 1 ; imprisoned in 
a church tower, 1 1 5 carries 
Sir Peter Carew to France, 12. 

Religion, First War of, in France, 
16. 

Revenge, The, 94. 

Re-vettge and San Felipe, Fight 
between, 120, 121. 



Ribaut, Captain, of Dieppe, 20. 

' Rising of the West,' 1 1. 

Roanoak, Murder of garrison at, 
87. 

Roche, Lord, Capture of, 29. 

Roebuck, The, 94 ; captures the 
Madre de Dios, 129 ; disable- 
ment of 206. 



St Leger, Sir Warham, Deputy 

of Munster, 28. 
St Martin's le Grand, Dutchmen 

established at, 135, 
San Felipe, The, and Rc-venge, fight 

between, 120, 121 ; at Cadiz, 

189. 
San Joseph taken and burnt by 

Ralegh, 151. 
San Thome, Original site of, 174 ; 

attack on, 346 et seq. 
Sancy Diamond, The, 99. 
Sarmiento de Acufia. See Gondo- 

mar. 
Sarmiento, Governor of Spanish 

Settlements in Patagonia, 46 ; 

has several interviews with 

Ralegh, 47 ; captured by 

Huguenots, 47. 
Savage, Sir Arthur, 244. 
' Schismatics,' The, 55. 
Scarnafissi, Count, Savoyard 

Ambassador, 318. 
Seamen, English, Efficiency of, 4. 
Ships, English, Superior build of, 4. 
Sidney, Sir Philip, 105 5 marriage 

of his widow, 1 17. 
Sidonia, Medina, Governor of 

Andalucia, 187, 194, 196. 
Simier, Jean de, Elizabeth's flirta- 
tion with, 36. 
Smoking introduced into England, 

82. 
Spain : Loss of Naval omnipotence, 

3, 4 ; decline of power, 199 ; 

hopeless disorganisation in, 

204. 



INDEX 



431 



Spaniards, Persecution of English 
Protestants by, 7 ; hatred by 
Devonshire people, 11, 

Spanish Settlement burnt at 
Venezuela, 168, 

Spanish treason, 259, 260. 

Spanish troops. Plan to introduce 
into England, 261. 

Spenser, Edmund, Secretary to 
Lord Grey, 23 ; meeting with 
Ralegh, 104 ; pension be- 
stowed on, 106. 

Squlrvdy The, Wreck of, 63. 

Stannaries Parliament, The, 43. 

Stuart, Lady Arabella, 233, 239. 

Stukeley, Sir Lewis, 75, 382, 395, 
397-400, 413, 417, 



Tassis, Don Juan Bautista de, 
Spanish Ambassador, 274. 

Throgmorton, Sir Arthur, brother- 
in-law to Ralegh, 195. 

Tobacco, Hariot the first to adopt, 
78 5 introduced into England, 
82. 

Toparimaca, Guiana chief, 160. 

Topiawari, Guiana chief, 161, 162, 
165, 177. 

Trinidad, Spanish Settlement at, 

Tyrone Insurrection, The, 213. 



Venezuela, Spanish Settlements 

burnt at, 168. 
Vera, Colonel de, in command 

of Spanish Expedition to 

Guiana, 173. 
Villa Dorta, Capture of, 209. 



Villiers, George (Duke of Buck- 
ingham), 306. 

Virginia : Taken, 64 ; named by 
Elizabeth, 69 ; colonising ex- 
pedition sails for, 71 ; arrival 
of expedition, 73 ; first con- 
flict with natives at, 73 ; rich 
state of, 77 ; quarrels among 
settlers, 78 5 arrival of Drake 
at, 79 ; return of colonists, 
80 5 Harlot's treatise on, 85 ; 
fourth expedition to, 87 ; 
John White, Governor of, 
87 5 settlement murdered, 
96 5 help refused by Eliza- 
beth, 97 5 another colony 
established, 303. 



W 

Waad, Sir William, Governor of 
the Tower 288. 

War of Religion, First, in France, 
16. 

Wars between Charles V. and 
French kings, 6, 

Whiddon, Captain Jacob, 148, 149. 

White, John : Governor of Vir- 
ginia, 87 ; return to England, 
88 ; again starts for Virginia, 

95- 
Wight, Isle of. Attempted attack 

on, in 1544, 4, 8. 
William the Silent, 39 ; his 

message to Elizabeth, 40. 
Williams, Sir Roger, 100. 
Wilson, Sir Thomas, spy on 

Ralegh, 403. 
Winchester, Trial of Ralegh at, 

265 et ieq. 
Wokoken, Island of, 65 ; arrival 

of colonising expedition, 73. 
Wood, Anthony a, 16, 
Wyatt's, Sir Thomas, rebellion, 

II. 



THE END 



Colston &' Coy. Limited^ Printers, Edinburgh. 



